7th
June 2005
No Complaints about Knowing Your Rights
Inverclyde’s taxpayers are to find
out more about their rights to complain when public services don’t come up to
scratch.
Scottish
Public Services Ombudsman, Professor Alice Brown, will be at the James Watt
College’s Waterfront Campus next Monday (13th June 2005) to both explain her
role and answer the public’s questions on how they can hold public bodies to
account.
The
meeting - the first of its kind in Inverclyde - has been organised by MSP for
Greenock and Inverclyde, Duncan McNeil, who says it’s important that his
constituents know and use their rights to complain about substandard service.
“It’s
vital that people do not settle for second class service and know their rights
to complain,” he said today. “Complaining
is sometimes seen as negative, but letting public bodies know where they are
going wrong could - and indeed should - improve the service for everyone.
“In
the course of my work as an MSP, I am contacted by people who feel let down or
unfairly treated by various public services.
The Scottish Parliament,
therefore, has created a modern, simpler complaints system in the shape of the
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman.
“It
is effectively a ‘one-stop-shop’ where you can make complaints about, say,
the health service, the council, Registered Social Landlords, the
Scottish Executive, or the Scottish Parliament.
If you’ve suffered injustice or hardship as a result of an
administrative failure, a failure to provide a service, or a failure in a
service, you can take your grievance to the
Ombudsman.
“But,
there’s no point in having these rights if you don’t know what they are or
how to use them. That’s why, in
the first ever event of its kind in Inverclyde, I have invited the Prof Brown
and her staff to come and explain their role and answer any questions my
constituents may have.”
The
meeting will take place on Monday 13th
June 2005 at 7.00pm in the IBM
Suite, James Watt College, Waterfront Campus, Greenock.
Anyone who wishes to attend can call Mr McNeil’s constituency office on
791 820 to reserve a place.
The
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman can
consider your grievance if you have suffered injustice or hardship as a result
of:
ENDS
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