Annual Complaints Performance Report 2022-2023

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) is Scotland’s prosecution service.

We act independently and impartially in the public interest. We are responsible for the investigation and prosecution of crime in Scotland, the investigation of sudden or suspicious deaths and the investigation of criminal allegations against the police.

We are committed to playing our part in making Scotland a safer place to live and engaging with communities to understand their needs and priorities.

COPFS recognises that a key element of achieving those aims is listening to those who are, or have been, affected by the work that we do. COPFS values the experiences of people who have been involved in the criminal justice process, whether good or bad, and how they have otherwise been affected by our service, and is committed to learning from those experiences.

We want to identify good practice within COPFS and ensure best practice is adopted across the whole of the organisation.

We also want to put things right, if possible, when something goes wrong and do so at the earliest opportunity.

We aim to engage our employees to deliver excellent customer service to victims, witnesses and other people in contact with COPFS.

The COPFS Complaints Handling Procedure (CHP) can be accessed from the Home page of our website www.copfs.gov.uk. We explain how to make a complaint, what can be complained about, what happens once a complaint has been made and what steps can be taken if a complainant is dissatisfied with our final decision.

Our Complaints Handling Procedure follows the model Complaints Handling Procedure endorsed by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman which adopts a two-stage approach.

This stage is also known as “Frontline Response”. Our aim is to treat complaints seriously and to resolve areas of dissatisfaction and misunderstanding as quickly as possible, preferably at local level. 

We recognise that early resolution is best practice in complaints handling – it is better for the complainant and can prevent more complex and time-consuming issues arising. stage 1 complaints should be answered within 5 working days (which can exceptionally be extended to 10 working days).

COPFS staff will assist in resolving concerns at Procurator Fiscal’s offices and, when time permits, at Court.

When a complaint cannot be resolved at stage 1, and further investigation is required, or the matter is identified as one which should be dealt with at stage 2 at the outset, it will be passed to our Response and Information Unit (RIU). 

Stage 2 complaints can be submitted to RIU directly from members of the public. Where complaints are received in local Procurator Fiscal’s offices which request escalation to stage 2 or which are not appropriate for stage 1 at the outset, they are forwarded to RIU.

The COPFS Response and Information Unit (RIU) is responsible for handling complaints received at and escalated to stage 2 in terms of our Complaints Handling Procedure (CHP) and promoting good customer service. 

When handling complaints RIU aims to:

• Provide a consistent and timeous service in respect of formal complaints
• Promote and encourage good customer service, including the use of Stage 1: Frontline Response
• Improve learning, including by recording outcomes and feeding these back to senior management

COPFS aims to deliver improvements in our service to the public across all COPFS functions. The Response and Information Unit provides quarterly analytics of complaints received at and escalated to stage 2 to COPFS senior management. 

This helps to ensure that complaint themes are identified and RIU’s performance is measured.

The outcome and investigation findings for all upheld and partially upheld complaints handled at stage 2 of our CHP are shared directly with senior management with responsibility for the team whose work the complaint relates to. This ensures that training needs are identified and learning points are acted on appropriately, and action is taken to improve service and mitigate identified risks.

Indicator 1: Total number of complaints recorded

This indicator sets out the total number of complaints recorded by COPFS from 1 April 2022-31 March 2023. This figure includes all complaints recorded at stage 1* and stage 2 of our Complaints Handling Procedure. 

282 complaints were recorded at stage 1 (this includes 60 complaints escalated from Stage 1 to stage 2, as they were first received at stage 1)*

176 complaints were received directly at stage 2 

Total number* of complaints in 2022/2023: 458

(* While all COPFS staff are encouraged to record complaints dealt with in this way, this work forms part of day-to-day business in a busy procurator fiscal’s office and so the full extent of frontline response may not be formally recorded.)

As a benchmark, we consider the figure of complaints received by COPFS per 1,000 reports to COPFS by reporting agencies.

During 2022/2023 COPFS received a combined total of 159,104¹

criminal and death reports. During the same period we recorded 458 complaints*, which is 2.9 complaints per 1000 reports.

Indicator 2: The number and percentage of complaints at each stage that were closed in full within the timescales of 5 and 20 working days

Stage 1 complaints should be closed within 5 working days, though this can exceptionally be extended to 10 working days.  

Stage 2 complaints should be closed within 20 working days. Where a stage 2 complaint is more complex and necessarily takes longer to investigate, and it is therefore not possible to close it within 20 working days, COPFS communicates this to the complainant and provides an update every 20 working days until a substantive response is issued. COPFS aims to respond to 70% of stage 2 complaints within 20 working days.

A complaint may be first considered and responded to at stage 1 and later escalated for consideration at stage 2 where the complainant remains dissatisfied, or may be considered at stage 2 from the outset where it is identified that the complaint is more complex and is not suitable for response at stage 1.

Between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023, from a total of 176 received at stage 2, we closed 117 complaints within 20 active* working days. This equates to 66% of the total stage 2 complaints received in 2022/2023.

Between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023, from a total of 60 complaints escalated from stage 1 to stage 2, we closed 50 complaints within 20 active working days. This equates to 83% of the total complaints escalated to stage 2 in 2022/2023.

We aim to respond to and close stage 1 complaints within 5 working days. In 2022/2023 recording practices in respect of stage 1 complaints did not allow for reliable calculation of numbers and percentages of stage 1 complaints answered within target.

(*This figure does not include time during which complaints were put on hold to await essential information from the complainant, or where the response date was re-calculated because the complainant submitted additional heads of complaint during the investigation.)

Indicator 3: The average time in working days for a full response to complaints received and closed at stage 2, and following escalation to stage 2

Stage 2 - We aim to respond to and close 70% of complaints received at stage 2 within 20 working days. The average time in active working days for a full response for complaints received at stage 2 was 28.

Stage 2 after escalation - We aim to respond to and close 70% of complaints escalated to stage 2 within 20 working days. The average time in active working days for a full response after escalation to stage 2 was 21.

We aim to respond to and close stage 1 complaints within 5 working days. In 2022/2023 recording practices in respect of stage 1 complaints did not allow for reliable calculation of average journey times for stage 1 complaints.

Indicator 4: The outcome of complaints received and closed at Stage 2, and following escalation to Stage 2

This indicator measures the number and percentage of closed complaints which were upheld, partially upheld, not upheld or resolved for complaints received at stage 2 and complaints escalated to stage 2 of COPFS Complaints Handling Procedure.

The resolved outcome was introduced with the new complaints handling procedure in April 2021 and is used when positive action can be taken to resolve the issue for the customer.

Complaints received at stage 2 

14 complaints were upheld at stage 2 which is 8% of the total complaints received at stage 2

27 complaints were partially upheld at stage 2 which is 15% of the total complaints received at stage 2

117 complaints were not upheld at Stage 2 which is 67% of the total complaints received at stage 2

18 complaints were resolved at stage 2 which is 10% of the total complaints received at stage 2

Complaints escalated to stage 2

8 complaints were upheld at stage 2 after escalation which is 13% of the total complaints escalated to stage 2

14 complaints were partially upheld at stage 2 after escalation which is 23% of the total complaints escalated to stage 2

35 complaints were not upheld at stage 2 after escalation which is 59% of the complaints escalated to stage 2

3 complaints were resolved at stage 2 after escalation which is 5% of the complaints escalated to stage 2

In 2022/2023 recording practices in respect of Stage 1 complaints did not allow for reliable analysis of outcomes in respect of Stage 1 complaints.

The most common complaints handled at stage 2 during this period related to:

• Handling of case (92)
• Failure to communicate (55)
• Handling of case in court (23)
• Decision not to prosecute (18)
• Decision to prosecute (15)

The highest number of upheld or partially upheld complaints handled at Stage 2 during this period related to:

• Failure to communicate (27)
• Handling of case (24)

Details of complaints handled at or escalated to Stage 2 which are fully or partially upheld are brought to the attention of local management so that any required action can be taken promptly and to ensure that staff involved can receive feedback that a complaint about their work has been upheld and why. This also allows consideration of training needs. 

Feedback and complaints

Anyone can provide a comment or make a complaint about our service or work. 

How do I give feedback?

You can contact our Enquiry Point with a query or comment. View full contact information and opening hours for the Enquiry Point.

How do I complain about my experience with COPFS?

Download our comments and complaints form and fill in all relevant sections. The notes in the form will guide you.

Where do I send my complaint?

You can hand your completed form in at any COPFS office, email us at Complaints@copfs.gov.uk

or post to:

The Response & Information Unit
Crown Office
25 Chambers Street
Edinburgh
EH1 1LA

You can also telephone 0300 020 3000. If you decide to contact us this way, you may still wish to use our form template to help you prepare your information before you call.