To ask the Scottish Executive what information it holds on how many complaints have been made to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman or its predecessor by individuals about their treatment by local authorities in each of the last five years for which figures are available, what percentage of such complaints in that period resulted in the conduct of a formal investigation; in what percentage of formal investigations a finding of maladministration by a local authority was made; how many of the ombudsman’s staff engaged in the investigation of complaints of maladministration by local authorities in each of those years, and what funds were made available in each of those years for the investigation of complaints of maladministration by local authorities.

The information requested is not held centrally.

Details of complaints made against local authorities to the former Commissioner for Local Administration in Scotland during the years 1999-2000, 2000-01 and 2001-02 are contained in the office-holder’s relevant annual reports, copies of which are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. numbers 16263, 21048 and 26250). Information requested that is not contained in those reports may be available from the office of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman.