Complaints procedure.
We are directly and indirectly affected by the influence of the following regulatory bodies. Identifying the appropriate body will only occur once we have obtained the relevant information from the complainant:
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• The Scottish Charity Regulator
• Equality Human Rights Commission
• Scottish Public Service Ombudsman
• Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA)
• Information Confirmation Officer
• Disclosure Scotland
What is a complaint?
We regard a complaint as any expression of dissatisfaction about our action or lack of action, or about the standard of service provided by us or on our behalf.
What to do if you want to make a complaint:
Reach is committed to providing good quality services. We recognise however, that we sometimes get things wrong or make mistakes. To manage this effectively we have a complaints procedure. We do not look on complaints as unwanted - in fact, they can help us to see where our services or procedures might be improved. Therefore, we encourage you to let us know where you feel we have made a mistake or done something which you found unsatisfactory or unacceptable. Even if you do not think your particular concern amounts to a 'complaint' we would still like to know about it. You may help us to deal with something that may be an oversight. If you believe the nature of the subject is particularly serious, you can go straight to stage 2 of the procedure and make a formal complaint.
Getting help to make your complaint
Getting help People can help you make a complaint. You could ask a friend, a relative, a councillor, your MSP, an advocate, the Citizens Advice Bureau or anyone else you trust to make the complaint on your behalf.
What comes next?
All complaints and feedback will be processed, and your rights protected at all stages. We will use the nature of the complaint and or feedback to improve our learning and service. This will be recorded and documented in our quality Management System and the learning from this will be acted on with immediate effect.
Your information
We are committed to protecting your privacy. We use information given to us about you and your complaint [or review] for its intended purpose and in line with the Data Protection Act 2018. For more information about how we handle your privacy and protect your information see our website or ask us for our leaflet.
How to
complain.
1
Informal Complaint or Feedback: Contacting us
Make your complaint directly to us and this can be done quite informally, in a manner that suits you; you can do this in person, by phone, online-meeting, by letter or email. We will try to resolve the problem immediately if we can. If we can't do this, for example, because the relevant information we need is not readily available, then we will take a record of your concern and arrange a suitable way and time for getting back to you. This will normally be within five working days, or we will make another arrangement agreeable to you.
2
Step 2: Formal Complaint. Taking your complaint further.
We hope you will only feel the need to make a formal complaint as a last resort and that you will complain to the person dealing with the matter in the first instance to allow them the opportunity to reach a suitable resolution. However, if you are still unhappy, the next step is to put your complaint in writing using the Complaint Form to the National Training Manager, setting out the details, including dates, of what you think went wrong and what you feel would put things right. If you are not happy about writing a letter, you can ask a member of staff to take notes of your complaint. You should make sure you agree with what they have recorded and that they provide you with your own copy for reference. Both parties should sign each copy. This record will be passed to the National Training Manager to deal with. Once the complaint is received, we will begin a full investigation. Your complaint will be acknowledged in writing within five working days of receiving it and you will be informed when you can expect a full response. This should normally be within three weeks unless the matter is very complex, such as where other organisations/officials need to be contacted. Where this is the case, we will still inform you what action is being taken
3
Internal Review. The next stage
If you are not satisfied with the Centre Manager’s investigation you can take your complaint to the Chief Executive Officer. All material relating to your complaint and of the National Training Manager’s investigation will be sent to them (contact details will be provided for you). They will let you know within seven working days that they have received your complaint and inform you of when to expect a full response from them.
