Petition 1076

It was brought to my attention by one of the Scottish Ombudsman Watch Supporters that a Mr Whittet had submitted the public petition 1076 to the Scottish Parliament due to their failure to properly investigate his complaint.
Scottish Ombudsman Watch

“The Petitioner requests the Scottish Parliament to set up an Appeal Tribunal to review final decisions by the Public Service Ombudsman where any complainers so requests.”

The outcome has been a significant step towards proper accountability.

The Petitions Committee today at the Scottish Parliament took a significant step forward today, in recognising following a submission by Murdo Fraser MSP, that there are a number of significant perceived difficulties with the way that the Ombudsman and the office of the SPSO, handles complaints.

The Petition 1076 by Mr David Whittet QPM, a retired senior police officer asked, that there be set up an Appeal Tribunal to review the final decisions by the Public Services Ombudsman, where the complainer so requests. 

The Petition Committee, acknowledges that there had been a number of concerns raised recently as to the way that the Ombudsman handles complaints and appears to hide behind the fact that the current legislation only allows for “Judicial Review”, which is prohibitive in relation to cost to the vast majority of complainers should problems arise.

A recent case in relation to Argyll and Bute Council against the Ombudsman highlighted the fact that they do not always get it right. The SPSO`s perceived poor handling of cases needed to be put under closer scrutiny and objectively by the parliament to consider whether changes to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Act 2002 should be considered.

Concerns were raised by some Members of the Committee, that if problems are within the organisation of the SPSO structure ,these processes and inadequacies should be resolved first before setting up a further appeals system. 

The Petition Committee agreed that this particular Petition had brought to the attention of the parliament, a legitimate concern and that evidence and other comment needed to be obtained .  Murdo Fraser MSP, intimated that the difficulties that Mr Whittet encountered were by no means unique.  The Petition 1076 was passed for further consideration and the gathering of relevant evidence from available sources. 

Mr Whittet’s contribution was thanked by the Petition Committee for bringing this matter to their attention, and various other organisations were to be contacted including Audit Scotland to consider whether their involvement could be considered.