Ombudsman Report Published

21 December 2007

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman has published a report into the listing of an Edinburgh building. The report, published on Wednesday December 19, 2007, considered complaints made against the agency by the owner of the property.

The concerns raised relate to the procedures followed by the agency in the listing of the building at category B in 2004.

A spokeswoman for Historic Scotland said: “The listing system exists to protect buildings of special architectural and historic interest and manage change. This is an important building deserving of statutory protection.

“Historic Scotland had already reviewed our procedures before this case was considered by the Ombudsman, for which the agency was commended in the report. We are confident that these issues could not arise under the new system.”

Historic Scotland has written to the owner to apologise for the failings identified in the report.

The report is now available on the Historic Scotland website at www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/ombudsman_final_report_191207.pdf


Notes for editors
·Historic Scotland is an executive agency of the Scottish Government charged with safeguarding the nation’s historic environment. The agency is fully accountable to Scottish Ministers and through them to the Scottish Parliament.