Organisations usually comply with our recommendations, and we always follow up rigorously to make sure this happens. However, if an organisation did not comply, the Ombudsman can take action to draw attention to this.
Section 16 of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Act 2002 says that we can lay a special report before the Scottish Parliament when an investigation report finds that someone suffered injustice or hardship because of maladministration or service failure, and this has not been, or will not be, remedied.
Since the SPSO was set up in 2002, we have not needed to issue a special report. If we did do so, it would be for Parliament to decide what, if any, action to take.