Written Question · S3W-38565 · Session 3
What its position is on the reported comment of the Minister for Housing and Communities that the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman is “no…
The question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the reported comment of the Minister for Housing and Communities that the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman is “not worth a farthing”.
The answer
Mr Neil''s comments were made in his capacity as an MSP and were referring to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) performance of two years ago.
Complaints and concerns about SPSO have already been considered in some detail and key recommendations for improvement have already been enacted:
By government, in measures introduced in the Public Services Reform Act 2010
By the Parliament, in measures introduced in the Scottish Parliamentary Commissions and Commissioners Act 2010
Changes will build on an already improving SPSO performance. In 2009-10, there were 22% more complaints resolved than 2008-09. Over the same period the open caseload reduced by 52%. In 2009-10, there were 123 published investigation reports with over 400 recommendations about more than 300 separate issues in 50 different public sector bodies.
Complaints and concerns about SPSO have already been considered in some detail and key recommendations for improvement have already been enacted:
By government, in measures introduced in the Public Services Reform Act 2010
By the Parliament, in measures introduced in the Scottish Parliamentary Commissions and Commissioners Act 2010
Changes will build on an already improving SPSO performance. In 2009-10, there were 22% more complaints resolved than 2008-09. Over the same period the open caseload reduced by 52%. In 2009-10, there were 123 published investigation reports with over 400 recommendations about more than 300 separate issues in 50 different public sector bodies.
In the Official Report
No contribution in the Official Report cites S3W-38565 by reference.