Friday 16 October - Sunday 18 October: Complaint form offline

The supplier of our case management system has confirmed that they are experiencing a significant technical issue.

At present, we have no access to the case management system and we are currently unable to take new Public Service Complaints or provide updates on cases. We are planning on the basis that this could continue for a period of time including next week.

Please be assured we are doing all we can and will provide updates on our website.

For an all service update: Service update | SPSO

Statistics 2012-13

Introduction

In 2012-13, the SPSO

  • received 531 enquiries and 4,120 complaints (5% more complaints than last year)
  • dealt with a total of 4077 complaints (9% more than last year), including some carried forward from 2011-12.

Increase in upheld complaints and drop in premature complaints

Upheld complaints are those that were valid for us to investigate, and that we fully or partly upheld. The overall level of upheld complaints rose from 39% in 2011-12 to 46% in 2012-13. The number of cases that reached us prematurely (without having first gone through the public organisation's complaints process) dropped again, from 43% to 40%.

2012-13 Statistical tables

This year, we are publishing separate, more in-depth analyses of our findings in each of the main areas under our remit. These are being provided individually over the summer and early autumn, and will be made available on this site as they are published. They are intended as a tool for sharing and learning and will contain analysis of complaints received and handled, as well as providing case studies for each area.

Letters to authorities

The Ombudsman sends some authorities an annual letter about their complaint numbers.

Updated: January 26, 2024