Public decisions should survive public questions.

Question 075 of 150

Body and remit specific

LJBD / COM / 075 · Checked 1 August 2026

How can a late review remain effective if the original evidence has been deleted?

This page does not decide the answer for a particular case. It turns the question into a request for an identifiable decision, reason, record and review route.

Editorial illustration representing documents, public decisions and an auditable record
Illustration. The source register below carries the factual weight.

The short answer

A useful response should be specific enough to check.

Make each complaint issue visible, identify the reviewer and test, then distinguish internal complaint handling from external oversight.

For this question, a useful answer should identify each complaint issue, investigator, test, evidence, finding, remedy, deadline and external remit. A label without those particulars may describe an outcome, but it does not expose the decision trail.

Put it in writing

Six follow-up questions

Use only the lines that fit. A numbered request makes an incomplete answer easier to identify without turning the letter into an accusation.

  1. 01

    Please answer this question directly: How can a late review remain effective if the original evidence has been deleted?

  2. 02

    Please identify the person or role responsible for the answer and the date of the decision.

  3. 03

    Please identify the legal power, published policy, procedure or test relied upon, including its current version.

  4. 04

    Please identify each complaint issue, investigator, test, evidence, finding, remedy, deadline and external remit.

  5. 05

    If any part cannot be answered, please state whether the information is not held, cannot be disclosed, or requires a different request route.

  6. 06

    Please identify any review, correction, complaint or appeal route and the deadline that applies.

Why record it?

Preserve the answer and the route to it.

Memory changes, reference numbers join separate systems, explanations can drift, and retention periods may expire. The point is a usable chronology kept by the reader, not evidence submitted to this website.

  • Date, time, place and method of contact
  • Name, role, organisation and team, if provided
  • The exact question asked and exact answer where possible
  • Every incident, complaint, case and document reference
  • The decision or refusal, reasons given and decision-maker
  • Evidence offered, what was accepted and what was declined
  • Promised action, deadline and next contact
  • Original documents and files, including metadata where available

Official starting points

Where the answer may be buried

These links are selected for this topic, not offered as a complete statement of the law. Read the current page, its jurisdiction and any stated deadline.

Police ScotlandComplaints about Police Scotland

Make or follow up a complaint about action, lack of action or service.

https://www.scotland.police.uk/about-us/how-we-do-it/complaints/
PIRCComplaint Handling Review

Understand PIRC's review of how a policing body handled a complaint.

https://www.pirc.scot/complaint-handling-review
PIRCRequest a Complaint Handling Review

Submit a request after the policing body's complaint process.

https://pirc.scot/complaint-handling-review/request
Scottish Public Services OmbudsmanComplaints handling principles

Understand the model principles used by Scottish public services.

https://www.spso.org.uk/complaintsprinciples
Open the full contacts and forms directory

Possible routes

The route depends on what is actually wrong.

Need the decision explained?

Ask the decision-maker or organisation for the decision, reasons, authority and reference in writing.

Need your own data?

A subject access request is different from an FOI request for policies, statistics or other recorded information.

Need a factual record corrected?

Identify the exact statement, why it is inaccurate, the supporting record, and every later system or decision that may contain it.

Need external scrutiny?

Check the reviewer's actual remit. Some bodies review complaint handling but do not reinvestigate the original event.

Do not assume one process stops another deadline. Complaint, review, appeal, tribunal and court time limits can run separately.