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I guess that the most exercised and agitated complainants who come to you will often hold the view that there is something wrong with the system, in that the body that they have complained about continues to investigate itself up to a point at various levels of escalation. However, from what you said earlier, ombudsman, you seem to feel that the performance of the system is improving.

I should preface my questions by saying that I absolutely get that Covid has had an impact on all sorts of organisations and, of course, it is inevitably the case that a number of complaints will not be legitimate in nature at the outset.

That said, you said earlier that the SPCB has been very supportive of you and that you, in turn, have been supportive and have looked to understand the challenges faced by public bodies. Ultimately, though, you are there to represent the public’s right to challenge the experiences that they have had. If, as we have read,

“there is currently a delay of up to 11 months in allocating complaints to an SPSO Complaints Reviewer”,

that is inevitably going to have an off-putting effect on members of the public. After all, what is the point of taking a complaint forward if it is going to take up to 11 months to allocate it?

What evidence do you have, anecdotally or otherwise, of people not pursuing a complaint, because of that inordinate delay? It is a delay that almost inevitably comes on top of the delay that they have already experienced with the public body that they are complaining about. I certainly know of cases where the response from the NHS has been, “I’m sorry, but we don’t have the time to deal with that.” I understand that, but when we put all that together, the fact is that people who try to raise what are often legitimate complaints face a very long time before they get the resolution that they are looking for or are entitled to.

I am interested in exploring that aspect with you, but can you also tell me how that 11-month delay compares to people’s experience pre-pandemic? Moreover, how long on average does it take to conclude a complaint once it has been allocated to a complaint reviewer, whether or not it proceeds to a full investigation?

As has already been touched on, some of the respondents to the consultation expressed concerns that the reforms were simply a rebranding of the current system. As we all know, that cynicism will always be there in such a process.

I would like to explore with you, and get your view on, this issue. Do you believe that Scottish Government’s response to the OECD report, and thereafter to your report, offers a genuine reassurance that there is, certainly at Scottish Government level, a recognition of the need to reform fully, and a commitment to the process?

Thank you. That is useful.

I recognise that we have already covered the challenges that the pandemic set. What are your findings on how landlords have maintained the quality of their homes? How satisfied are you that social landlords have robust procedures in place to deal with tenant complaints about the quality of their homes?

Your report considers existing tenants’ satisfaction with the quality of their homes, and I was struck by the discrepancy in the level of satisfaction that has emerged between tenants of local authorities and those who are resident in RSL properties. Will you say something about that?

I entirely take your point that the discrepancy is not a new thing—it has been around for a number of years—but what about particular local authorities that are serially lower down the satisfaction scale than others over an extended period? Would you look at that sort of thing directly and make some intervention, even of a low-level nature, with regard to a particular local authority?

Thank you very much.

Thank you, convener. Before we move on to that topic, I will go back to the line that my colleague Miles Briggs was interrogating.

Mr Cameron and Mr Walker, in the 12 statutory interventions, and the many other non-statutory interventions, that you have carried out, were you satisfied with the outcomes in all instances? Did you ever feel that you could have done with more powers to achieve an outcome that would have left you entirely satisfied?

What about the absence of a BRIA?

Thank you.

Good morning. When the committee considered the secondary legislation relating to the bill, a number of stakeholders raised concerns about what they considered to be a lack of consultation prior to the introduction of that secondary legislation. That was reflected in the committee’s report; in fact, the committee encouraged the Government to take the opportunity afforded by the bill to undertake further consultation with stakeholders on the proposed legislation. However, some stakeholders have told us that no specific consultation has been undertaken on the bill, and others have highlighted the lack of an accompanying business and regulatory impact assessment. How do you respond to those criticisms?