Public Appointments > Research and Reports > Complaint Reports > Ineffective Succession Planning and Complaint Handling
Ineffective Succession Planning and Complaint Handling
22 March 2024
The Office of the Ethical Standards Commissioner undertook an investigation into a stage 3 complaint. The complainant alleged that succession planning for the board of the Cairngorms National Park Authority was ineffective. The complainant further alleged that the time taken by the Scottish Government to respond to their stage 1 and stage 2 complaints were unacceptable and incompatible with the Scottish Government’s complaint investigations standards.
This investigation, entailing a detailed review into the reappointments process undertaken for the Cairngorms National Park Authority, found that there had been a breach of multiple principles and provisions of the 2013 Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments. In addition, failure by the relevant sponsor directorate at the Scottish Government to comply with the Commissioner’s investigation on this matter resulted in significant delays to the publication of the report.
Ultimately, the conclusions of this investigation culminated in several recommendations to the Scottish Government, which aimed to improve:
- the integrity of their current framework for reappointments;
- their current process for handling complaints investigation; and,
- their understanding of the Commissioner’s statutory remit with regards to his powers to investigate complaints on public appointments in Scotland.
Full details are set out in the report.
