SPSO

COVID-19 (Coronavirus)

We appreciate that it is an anxious and difficult time for members of the public at present, the current situation is fast moving and public service organisations are working hard to ensure that they deliver vital services with reduced resourcing.

Please note that due to the current impact of COVID-19, we estimate that there may be a delay allocating your complaint to a Complaints Reviewer for further consideration of around eleven months. If we are able to consider your complaint sooner, we will be in touch with you.

Like many public service organisations, we are working hard to continue to deliver our service under challenging circumstances. In light of these challenges we would encourage you to refrain from using this form to complain to our office if your complaint is about the following matters:

  • Delays with complaint responses
  • Matters which are likely to resolve themselves within the next few weeks/months
  • Delays in service delivery which are the result of organisations having to cope with COVID-19 and which are non-essential.

Please find more information on our COVID-19 update.

Making a complaint - SPSO complaint form

The SPSO is the final stage for complaints about public services. We can usually only look at complaints that:

  • have completed the organisation’s own complaints procedure
  • have not been considered in court
  • the person complaining knew about less than 12 months ago

This complaint form is for people who have completed the organisations’ own complaints procedure. If you have not done so, and are experiencing difficulties or delays, there is advice and support available here.

To read more about our role, how to complain, and what we might be able to achieve for you, please read the leaflet ‘How to complain to the SPSO (PDF, 1.3MB)’. You can also read more about how to complain on these online pages.

To fill out the online complaint form, you will need to send us a copy of your original complaint to the organisation and a copy of the decision from the organisation. We will give you details of how to upload or post this to us later in this form.

If you have completed the complaints process but are having difficulty, or cannot send us copies of your complaint correspondence, please use the contact details on this page to ask us for advice and support.

Once we receive your complaint form, we will look at your complaint and one of our staff will be in touch to let you know what happens next. To read about our process, please see the leaflet ‘Your complaint at the SPSO (PDF, 412KB)’.

When we receive your complaint, it is likely that we will be required to contact the organisation you have complained about. If you would like to discuss this, or any other part of our process, please contact us.

You can find out about the types of personal data we may collect about you when you bring a complaint to us in our privacy notice. This notice also explains how we will store that data and keep it safe. You are welcome to ask us questions about this at any time. Please note: if you bring us a complaint, we will normally share information with the organisation you complained about. If you have concerns about this, please contact us as soon as possible.