Portfolio: Local Government
OPINION: DAVID SCOTT
davidscott@holyrood.com
Building trust
‘
Public trust is a pillar of public life. enhancing people’s confidence in public councils, the NHS, housing associations,
It is concerned with perceptions of services.” the Scottish Government and its agencies
honesty but it is also about confidence In the last few decades we have come and departments, universities and colleges
and satisfaction with the outcomes of a long way in meeting the need for the and most public authorities. There could
service delivery.’ provision of an effective mechanism be further changes, giving the SPSO an
The quote, from the tenth report of where people can seek proper redress. even wider role. As Brown points out in
the Committee on Standards in Public The former post of Scottish local gov- her report, Crerar suggested a number
Life, was recently highlighted by the Scot- ernment ombudsman was created in the of changes including an extension of the
tish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) 1970s. It took some time before it was “one-stop shop” concept which would
Professor Alice Brown. In what was her properly established and the public were give the SPSO responsibility for han-
last annual report before standing down sometimes confused as to where they david Scott dling complaints that are currently dealt
from the post next March, she took the should channel complaints. with by other review bodies. So we may
opportunity to emphasise the vital impor- The mushrooming of complaints eventually get an “ombudsman supremo”
tance of people having trust in their local bodies – especially since devolution – responsible for dealing with nearly all
authority or public body. Trust is clearly caused further confusion in people’s of the complaints that are made to a
a word Prof Brown regards as being of minds as to where they could make their wide range of governmental and public
prime importance in the relationship complaint. Audit Scotland; various par- bodies.
between service user and service provider liamentary commissioners, or so-called What matters at the end of such inves-
and one that has often been sadly lacking ‘tsars;’ a number of ombudsmen for tigations is whether people are receiving
when people have an issue to raise with different public services and a varied adequate redress. There have been cases
their council or public body. range of inspectorates for services like in recent years where councils and public
During her work, the ombudsman education and health, were among the bodies have been reluctant to accept the
found there can be a common theme scrutiny bodies that were created on an findings of the ombudsman and take the
in the complaints she receives. This is ad-hoc basis without any consideration appropriate action. Fortunately, attitudes
especially the case in complaints about being given to whether they should be
Peo
null
ple
appear to have changed, with the find-
services like health which reveal a grow- rationalised.
who have a
ings of the ombudsman as an indepen-
ing concern about a lack of dignity in the That problem, however, was eventu-
provision of care and treatment, espe- ally addressed with the setting up of an
grievance
dent investigator accepted in most cases.
Brown found evidence of a shift in culture
cially to the most vulnerable of patients. investigation by Professor Lorne Crerar.
frequently
among the whole range of organisations
As Brown pointed out, planning cases He proposed a significant reduction in feel that deliver public services, with com-
also form a large proportion of the com- the number of watchdogs – a reduction
they can
plaints increasingly being seen as a posi-
plaints. These are rooted in ongoing that is now being acted upon. Crerar
no longer
tive chance to learn from the public about
discontent or disagreement with the plan- found there was an “overcrowded land-
have faith
their experiences as users of services and
ning process and its outcomes. People scape” and recommended changes that to drive up improvement.
who have a grievance frequently feel would cut out duplication and reduce the
in public
Many complaints and enquiries
they can no longer have faith in public number of bodies dealing with the audit,
services or
continue to be made to the SPSO –
services or feel they can depend on these inspection and complaints handling of feel they more than 4,000 in the past year. Not all
services. public services.
can depend
grievances, of course, are found to be
Prof Brown rightly sees this as an Changes had already been made to
on these
justified. Councils appear to have
area where the ombudsman can play a the role of the ombudsman, with legisla-
services
become more efficient over the years and
crucial role. She believes her office can tion in 2002 resulting in a “one-stop shop” organisations like the ombudsman and
help to re-build the relationship between office to replace three previous ombuds- Audit Scotland, the public spending
users and providers of public services man posts responsible for Scottish parlia-
when something has gone wrong. “We mentary and health services; local gov- null
watchdog, can take a great deal of credit
for the progress made. But as Brown
frequently refer to our purpose as being ernment and housing associations. This states in her report, it is the issue of trust
‘justice for the individual, learning for the was a much needed reform in order to between people and public bodies that is
service provider, improvement in public help eliminate confusion. The new office at the root of the problem. That contin-
services’,” she writes. “In achieving these is now responsible for looking at com- ues to be an area where much work still
aims, our overall contribution is a pow- plaints about most organisations provid- needs to be done if public confidence is
erful one: that of rebuilding trust and ing public services in Scotland including to be re-built. HM
44
| 17 November 2008 | Holyrood magazine | www.holyrood.com |
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