Festive opening hours

We will close for the public holidays on Tuesday 24 December 2024 at 2.30pm, and remain closed for the public holidays between Christmas and New Year.

However, we will open on 27, 30, and 31 December 2024 between 10am – 12pm and 2pm – 4pm. During these times, we will prioritise reviews of crisis grant applications. If you wish to request a review of a community care grant application, you can do so online. Alternatively, you can call us on 3 January 2025, and we will assist you over the phone.

Our normal service will resume on 3 January 2025 at 10am.

Accessibility

We are committed to making our service easily accessible to everyone. In designing our offices, our procedures and this website, we have tried to ensure that we are as open and accessible as possible.

Accessing our service

If you have specific needs, we will make reasonable adjustments wherever possible. You can tell us about your needs on your application form, or you can contact us. Please explain exactly what you need, and we will let you know what we can do.

Other languages and formats

We welcome enquiries in all languages. Phone us on freephone 0800 014 7299 or contact us online and tell us which language you use. We will provide telephone interpretation support as quickly as possible.

British Sign Language (BSL) users can contact us by using contactSCOTLAND-BSL.

We can also provide our advice and information leaflets in other languages and formats (such as large print or Braille). Please tell us what you need. We have a portable loop induction system in our office for hearing aid users.

Website accessibility

The SPSO is committed to making this website accessible to everyone. We have developed it following web standards and accessibility guidelines, and aim to meet and where possible exceed level AA of the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

You can find out more about web accessibility standards at the W3C accessibility information page.

If you want to change the size of the text used on this website, most web browsers allow users to override formatting and to change fonts and font sizes. Different browsers, such as Microsoft Explorer and Firefox, have different methods for changing these settings, so you will need to consult the 'Help' section on your browser's menu area to find out how to do this. The BBC website has some helpful guidance about accessibility.

We currently do not have Browsealoud facilities enabled on our website. We hope that this will be temporary and that we will be able to provide a similar service again in the near future. Please let us know if you rely on this text-to-speech service, and if there is anything else we can do to make our website more accessible to you in the absence of this feature. Our advice team is on hand to answer any queries about this on 0800 377 7330.

Getting help

There are people who can help you make a complaint. You could ask a friend, a relative, a councillor, your MSP or an advocate. You can find out about advocates in your area by contacting the Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance or by calling the Citizens Advice Bureau. For advice from us, please call us on freephone 0800 014 7299.

Improving our accessibility

We are always looking for ways to improve accessibility. Please call us on 0800 014 7299 if you have feedback or suggestions.