In some circumstances, it can currently take up to 4.5 months to conduct an initial assessment for some complaints, particularly if they are complex. We are doing everything we can to reduce this time. You can find average timescales for each stage of complaint handling across all types of complaints here.

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Promoting diversity

We published Diversity Delivers, the first equality and diversity strategy for Scotland’s ministerial public appointments process, in September 2008. It resulted from significant research into the operation of the public appointments process and the barriers people face when considering, or applying for, a position on a board. 

The strategy includes practical recommendations intended to achieve change in three areas:

A pool of applicants as diverse as the people of Scotland, aware of and attracted by the work of our public bodies and the opportunities to serve on their boards.

An appointments system that inspires confidence, increases capacity and embraces diversity, from the application process to the boardroom.

A programme of support for our future leaders, developing and providing opportunities for all to achieve their full potential and for Scotland to draw upon its brightest talent.

The strategy makes recommendations for the Scottish Government on the way the public appointments system should be developed to attract a wider and more diverse range of applicants. It also includes recommendations for boards to consider. 

Additionally, the strategy includes diversity targets for the Scottish Government. We report progress against these in our annual reports. We also published a report on progress against the strategy in 2011 with a ten years on report on progress published in 2019. 

We continue to work in partnership with the Scottish Government and others involved in the system to support the implementation of the recommendations in the strategy.

Diversity matters as it has a direct impact on the governance of boards. We conducted research in partnership with the Scottish Government to assess what difference it makes. The results of the research are due to be published in 2020. In advance of that, we have published individual case studies on how boards have harnessed diversity to good effect. They can be downloaded from the following links: