Scottish Government's official working definition of "maladministration": FOI release

Information requested

The Scottish Government's official working definition of "maladministration" (eg, Oxford English Dictionary, Black's Law Dictionary 11th Edition, etc).

Response

The glossary section of the SPFM defines Maladministration as 'Any form of administrative failing or bad practice.' and the Maladministration section expands on this and gives examples of what Maladministration means and covers.

The SPFM provides the scope of Maladministration as being 'where an individual, company or other body has suffered injustice or hardship due to maladministration or where the sub-standard quality of the service provided has had a similar effect.' The SPFM also sets out how organisations are expected to set out clear standards for their performance and in Annex 2 of the Maladministration provides the following examples of maladministration, although this list is not exhaustive:

• bias;
• neglect;
• inattention;
• delay;
• incompetence;
• ineptitude;
• perversity;
• turpitude;
• arbitrariness;
• rudeness;
• unwillingness to treat the complainant as a person with rights;
• refusal to answer reasonable questions;
• neglecting to inform a complainant on request of their rights or entitlement;
• knowingly giving advice which is misleading or inadequate;
• ignoring valid advice or overruling considerations which would produce an uncomfortable result for the "over ruler";
• offering no redress or manifestly disproportionate redress;
• showing bias because of ethnicity, sex or any other grounds;
• omission to notify those who thereby lost a right of appeal;
• refusal to inform adequately of the right of appeal;
• faulty procedures;
• failure by management to monitor compliance with adequate procedures;
• cavalier disregard of guidance which is intended to be followed in the interest of equitable treatment of those who use a service;
• partiality; and
• failure to mitigate the effects of rigid adherence to the letter of the law where this produces manifestly inequitable treatment.

The SPFM also points to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman for further information on maladministration and how to make a complaint.

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