Quarterly customer service complaint outcomes - July 2024 to September 2024
Introduction
SEPA’s Complaints Handling Procedure is in accordance with the requirements of the Model Complaints Handling Procedure published by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) and requires us to publish quarterly a report on complaints outcomes and actions taken to improve services.
This report covers the period July 2024 to September 2024 inclusive.
Stage 1 complaints
A total of five Stage 1 complaints handled in the reporting period – two were found not upheld, and one was resolved by agreement with the complainants, with no requirement for further action. Two were found upheld, with apologies issued and appropriate actions taken to address the matters which were upheld.
Stage 2 complaints
Three Stage 2 complaints were handled within the reporting period – one was partially upheld; one was upheld in full and the third was withdrawn by the complainant.
The complaint which was partially upheld concerned a late response by SEPA to a request from the Scottish Government Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA) for information relating to an appeal against a local authority Planning decision. Whilst the complainant had raised this as a complaint, it should be noted that the DPEA had not raised this as a matter of concern for them as SEPA had provided its response within two days of the date requested by DPEA.
Nevertheless, SEPA apologised to the complainant and steps were taken to ensure that responses to any future such requests from DPEA will be handled timeously.
The complaint which was upheld concerned the time taken by SEPA to determine an application for a Water Use Licence. The investigation identified a number of shortcomings in the handling of this application which had led to an inordinate delay in determining and issuing the licence. An apology was issued to the complainant, the application was determined as a priority and appropriate steps were taken to avoid such delays in future applications.