Challenge or "comeback" complaints to the SPSO

G.A. Hamilton made this Freedom of Information request to Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

The request was refused by Scottish Public Services Ombudsman.

From: G.A. Hamilton

16 April 2009

Dear Sir or Madam,
In the period 2003 - 2009 the SPSO received 903 challenge or
"comeback" complaints regarding decisions made by the SPSO about
complaints against various Scottish public bodies by members of the
public.In terms of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act, 2002,
please supply details of such challenge or "comeback" complaints,
together with details of the SPSO's responses and investigations,
for the period December 2008 to end of January 2009. Such
information should be redacted in line with 38(1)(b) and 26(a) of
FOISA in order to protect the identities of those concerned. The
data should be supplied electronically to this Email address or
alternatively via the SPSO's own website. If the latter, please
inform me when this has been done.

Yours faithfully,

G.A. Hamilton

Link to this

From: Ask
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

16 April 2009

This is an automated receipt from SPSO to let you know that we have
received your email. Please do not reply to this.

If your email to us was a new complaint, we will register it and will
acknowledge it in writing within the next three working days. We will also
give you a reference number which you should use in any future
correspondence with us.

If your email was not about a new complaint, it will be forwarded to the
appropriate colleague who will reply to you in due course.

show quoted sections

Link to this

From: Ask
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

15 May 2009

Dear Mr Hamilton,

I refer to your request for information, as below. As I explained in my
response to your previous information request, we cannot release to you
the challenge complaint letters that we have received. I have therefore
considered your request as applying only to the SPSO responses to those
challenge complaints.

We are currently preparing the information you have requested and expect
to be able to publish it on our website by Friday 22 May at the latest. I
am sorry it has not been possible to release the information within 20
working days of receiving your request, however I am sure you understand
all documents must be carefully redacted and thoroughly checked before
they can be published. I apologise for any inconvenience this delay may
cause you.

Once published, the information will be available to download in PDF
format from
http://www.spso.org.uk/how-complain/comp....
Should you have any difficulty accessing the information in this way,
please let us know.

YOUR RIGHT TO REQUEST A REVIEW

You have a right under section 20(1) of FOISA to request a review of the
handling or outcome of your request for information. If you wish to
exercise this right, you must write to the SPSO to request a review within
forty working days of receipt of this decision. In your request for a
review you must specify your name and address for correspondence.

Should you wish to request a review, please address your request to:

David Robb

Director of Policy and Development

Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

4 Melville Street

Edinburgh

EH3 7NS

Email: [Scottish Public Services Ombudsman request email]

YOUR RIGHT OF APPEAL

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of any review carried out by the
SPSO, you have a right under FOISA to appeal to the Scottish Information
Commissioner. If you wish to do so, you must appeal to the Commissioner
within six months following the date of receipt of the review notice. The
Commissioner's contact details are as follows:

The Scottish Information Commissioner

Kinburn Castle

Doubledykes Road

St Andrews

KY16 9DS

Email: [email address]

Tel: 01334 464610

Yours sincerely,

Louise Rae

Information Analyst

Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

4 Melville Street Edinburgh EH3 7NS

tel 0800 377 7330 fax 0800 377 7331

email [1][Scottish Public Services Ombudsman request email]

web [2]http://www.spso.org.uk

show quoted sections

Link to this

From: G.A. Hamilton

17 May 2009

Dear Ask,
In this one instance ONLY, I will accept the delay in supplying the
required information until 22 May. Should this deadline be exceeded
the matter will be referred to the SIC.

Yours sincerely,

G.A. Hamilton

Link to this

From: Ask
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

17 May 2009

This is an automated receipt from SPSO to let you know that we have
received your email. Please do not reply to this.

If your email to us was a new complaint, we will register it and will
acknowledge it in writing within the next three working days. We will also
give you a reference number which you should use in any future
correspondence with us.

If your email was not about a new complaint, it will be forwarded to the
appropriate colleague who will reply to you in due course.

show quoted sections

Link to this

From: G.A. Hamilton

19 May 2009

Dear Ask,
This is notification that, although you have indicated the required
information will be available by 22 May, you are now in
non-compliance with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act,
2002.

Yours sincerely,

G.A. Hamilton

Link to this

From: Ask
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

19 May 2009

This is an automated receipt from SPSO to let you know that we have
received your email. Please do not reply to this.

If your email to us was a new complaint, we will register it and will
acknowledge it in writing within the next three working days. We will also
give you a reference number which you should use in any future
correspondence with us.

If your email was not about a new complaint, it will be forwarded to the
appropriate colleague who will reply to you in due course.

show quoted sections

Link to this

From: G.A. Hamilton

17 December 2009

Dear Ask,
On 16 April 2009 I made a FOISA request for details of "comeback"
complaints made against the SPSO between December 2008 and January
2009. On 15 May you stated that these details would be available by
22 May 2009 at latest. There is no record of such information on
the "What do they know" website and I have been unable to find it
on your own website. An incomplete link was given in your reply of
15 May and your website does not appear to be user-friendly in
respect of a matter such as this.
In the circumstances, I therefore request an internal review of the
handling of this request, together with comprehensible details of
where the information can be found.

Yours sincerely,

G.A. Hamilton

Link to this

From: Ask
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

17 December 2009

This is an automated receipt from SPSO to let you know that we have
received your email. Please do not reply to this.

If your email to us was a new complaint, we will register it and will
acknowledge it in writing within the next three working days. We will also
give you a reference number which you should use in any future
correspondence with us.

If your email was not about a new complaint, it will be forwarded to the
appropriate colleague who will reply to you in due course.

show quoted sections

Link to this

From: Ask
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

22 December 2009

Attachment Link to webpage.doc
140K Download View as HTML

Dear Mr Hamilton

I am responding to your email below of 17 December and apologise that
you were unable to access the information requested through the link
provided by Louise Rae on 22 May and her follow-up explanation of 26
May. I am providing the link a further time with directions to the
appropriate page on our website, but have also included it in a word
document for copying and pasting. Hopefully, this will overcome the
difficulties you are experiencing.

Link:
http://www.spso.org.uk/how-complain/comp...
sework-decisions

Website location:
As explained by Mrs Rae in her email of 26 May, you may find the
information on our website in the following way:

www.spso.org.uk Home page / How to complain / Complaining about the
SPSO / Click on link in first paragraph named 'Challenges to Casework
Decisions'.

The documents are at the bottom of that page. If you are still unable
to find the information you are looking for, please let us know before
the end of January 2010.

Regards

Fiona Paterson
Senior Personal Assistant

Scottish Public Services Ombudsman
4 Melville Street
Edinburgh
EH3 7NS

Freephone: 0800 377 7330
Email: [Scottish Public Services Ombudsman request email]
Web: www.spso.org.uk

show quoted sections

Link to this

From: G.A. Hamilton

22 December 2009

Dear Ask,
Thank you for your E-mail reply of 22 December. Having studied the
copy correspondence released I can see that the scope of redaction
employed renders the data almost useless for all practical
purposes.

I therefore request an internal review of the amount, scope and
extent of the redactions with a view to preserving the anonymity of
the complainant but also preserving the essential nature of the
information contained in the SPSO's replies.

Yours sincerely,

G.A. Hamilton

Link to this

From: Ask
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

22 December 2009

This is an automated receipt from SPSO to let you know that we have
received your email. Please do not reply to this.

If your email to us was a new complaint, we will register it and will
acknowledge it in writing within the next three working days. We will also
give you a reference number which you should use in any future
correspondence with us.

If your email was not about a new complaint, it will be forwarded to the
appropriate colleague who will reply to you in due course.

show quoted sections

Link to this

From: Ask
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

7 January 2010

Dear Mr Hamilton

Thank you for your email.

You have requested a review of the handling of your information request
reference 200900646 for Casework Challenge Decision Letters for the period
December 2008 to the end of January 2009.

Under section 20 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 you
have a right to request a review within 40 working days of the date you
received our response to your request. Ms Rae wrote to you on 15 May 2009
advising that the requested information would be available on our website
from 22 May 2009, at which point the request was closed. Ms Rae provided
a link to the relevant page of our website
([1]http://www.spso.org.uk/how-complain/comp...)
and advised you to contact her if you had any difficulties accessing the
information. Ms Rae provided you with further clarification on how to
locate the information on our website on 26 May 2009. It has now been
over 6 months since you received our responses to your request for
information, and since the information was made available on our website.
I therefore consider your request for review out of time.

I am sorry I cannot be of any further assistance.

Yours sincerely

Niki Maclean

Head of Corporate Services

Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

4 Melville Street | Edinburgh | EH3 7NS

T: 0800 377 7330 F: 0800 377 7331

Email: [Scottish Public Services Ombudsman request email]

Web: www.spso.org.uk

show quoted sections

Link to this

From: G.A. Hamilton

7 January 2010

Dear Ask,
Thank you for your email of today, and I note that you consider
that an internal review of the production of the information
requested is not justified as the request for review is "out of
time".
May I point out that a) the original request was made through this
website and relevant data should have been furnished through this
website and not through your own website, which most enquirers find
baffling and b) since your own office was unable to meet the
requirements of FOISA with regard to the timescale for production
of data, I believe you are hardly in a position to use my inability
to meet the timescale as a valid reason for rejection of the
request for internal review.
Please confirm whether the request for internal review is being
rejected on timescale grounds, or on grounds of refusal to remove
much of the redaction.

Yours sincerely,

G.A. Hamilton

Link to this

From: Ask
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

7 January 2010

This is an automated receipt from SPSO to let you know that we have
received your email. Please do not reply to this.

If your email to us was a new complaint, we will register it and will
acknowledge it in writing within the next three working days. We will also
give you a reference number which you should use in any future
correspondence with us.

If your email was not about a new complaint, it will be forwarded to the
appropriate colleague who will reply to you in due course.

show quoted sections

Link to this

G.A. Hamilton left an annotation ( 8 January 2010)

A case of the pot calling the kettle black ?

Link to this

From: Ask
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

13 January 2010

Dear Mr Hamilton

Thank you for your email.

I can confirm that your request for a review of the handling of your
information request of 17 April 2009 reference 200900646 was refused on
the grounds that you were advised the information would be available on
our website from 22 May 2009, over six months ago.

I consider our original response satisfactory and, due to the time that
has passed, I consider your request for review to be out of time.

Yours sincerely

Niki MacLean
Head of Corporate Services

Scottish Public Services Ombudsman
4 Melville Street | Edinburgh | EH3 7NS
T: 0800 377 7330 F: 0800 377 7331

Email: [Scottish Public Services Ombudsman request email]
Web: www.spso.org.uk

show quoted sections

Link to this

Things to do with this request

Anyone:
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman only: