Our complaint handling times
Once you have submitted a complaint, what can you expect from the assessment and investigation process?
You can find more information below about the time taken by our office to complete each stage of the complaint-handling process across all types of complaints.
For more information about the complaint handling process, please click here.
How quickly do we deal with complaints?
We recognise that an efficient and timely complaints process is essential to maintaining public trust and confidence in the ethical standards framework. We have made significant improvements to the way complaints are assessed and investigated, supported by investment in our team and enhancements to our processes. Our focus is now on sustaining these improvements and ensuring that complaints are progressed efficiently, fairly and thoroughly.
The average time it took to complete each stage of the complaint handling process over the first quarter (April - June 2026) of this financial year is shown below:
| Complaints | Stage 1 | Stage 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Councillor and board members of public bodies | 54 days | 5 months |
| MSPs | 30 days | 6 months |
Across all complaints, the average timescale for completing Stage 1 was calculated from the date on which a complaint was received to the date on which a decision for Stage 1 was reached. The average timescale for completing Stage 2 was calculated from the date on which Stage 2 started to the date on which a decision for that stage was reached. You can find out more about the different stages of our complaint handling process here.
Our performance in 2025/26
Take a look at our complaint timescales for 2025/26, including the time taken to assess and investigate complaints about Councillors, Members of public bodies and MSPs. The information below provides a quarterly breakdown and highlights how our processes have performed over the year.
Councillor/Members of public bodies complaints Toggle accordion
Assessment time for Councillor/Members of public bodies complaints
| Complaints | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Councillor & Members of public bodies | 48 days | 41 days | 43 days | 51 days |
Stage 1 assessment times remained consistently low throughout 2025/26, with quarterly averages ranging from 41 to 51 days. The average for the year was 45 days, compared with 133 days in 2024/25. This represents a significant improvement and demonstrates that faster assessment times have been sustained throughout the year.
Investigation time for Councillor/Members of public bodies complaints
| Complaints | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Councillor & Members of public bodies | 185 days | 144 days | 185 days | 139 days |
Stage 2 investigations can involve complex and resource-intensive work. We are committed to completing investigations as efficiently, effectively and enviously as possible. Since 2023/24, we have continued to refine our processes, with a particular focus on ensuring that investigations are proportionate to the issues being considered. This has contributed to reductions in average investigation times. The average time taken to complete stage 2 investigations in each quarter of 2025/26 is set out in Table 2.
It is important to recognise that investigation times vary depending on the nature and complexity of each case. We have also developed internal performance measures which reflect the different demands of different case different types of investigation. More than one third of the investigations completed during 2025/26 fell within the least complex category, and these were completed in an average of 106 days.
MSP complaints Toggle accordion
Assessment time for MSP complaints
| Complaints | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSPs | 17 days | 21 days | 19 days | 26 days |
Stage 1 assessment times for complaints about MSPs remained consistently low throughout the year, ranging from 17 to 26 days cross the four quarters. This reflects our continued focus on progressing complaints promptly and reaching a decision on admissibility at the earliest opportunity.
Ready to make a complaint?
You can make your complaint online or in other ways. Follow the link to begin.