Complaints Policy

Complaints Policy

POLICY
At The Way, we are committed to providing a high-quality service to all young people, and others, who access our facility and services, always striving to work to the highest standards. However, we realise that from time to time things can go wrong, or we may not meet your expectations, and we welcome and actively seek feedback regarding our service and activities. This will help us to improve our standards.

Any formal statement by a member of the public or a partner or other organisation regarding dissatisfaction with the standard of work or service provided by The Way will be regarded as an official complaint.

We take any complaint made against a member of staff, volunteer and our service or decisions seriously. When a complaint has been made, you have the right to have your concerns investigated and receive a full and prompt response.

When a complaint is made regarding any aspect of The Way’s business and services, this policy and the supporting procedure aims to:
• Find out what happened
• Satisfy the complainant that their concerns have been addressed
• Take into account the outcome of any investigation from the complaint in order to improve the way The Way functions.

If you feel unhappy about any aspect of our work, please initially contact the member of staff concerned. If you do not know the name of the member of staff concerned, then please contact our HR and Office Manager on 01902 328290 and let them know who you are and what your concerns are. We will then put you in contact with the appropriate person as quickly as possible who will then try to resolve the problem with you either by phone or in person. They will endeavour to resolve the matter to your satisfaction within 2 weeks, or if it is likely to take longer, they will let you know why.
If you still feel you have been badly or unfairly treated, then please follow our Complaints Procedure which is set out below.


COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
Stage One
Depending on who your complaint relates to, e.g. staff member or volunteer, please contact the relevant person shown in the table below and let them know who you are and what the nature of your complaint is. They will then either put you in contact with the appropriate person as quickly as possible, or endeavour to resolve your complaint and provide you with either a verbal or written response within 2 weeks:
Complaint relates to: Youth Work Team Volunteer All other staff All other complaints
Contact: Youth Work Manager Volunteer Co-ordinator HR and Office Manager HR and Office Manager
Tel. no: 01902 328290 01902 328290 01902 328290 01902 328290

Unless you wish to pursue the matter further, the complaint will be considered to have been resolved and a brief record will be made and kept on file. If you are still dissatisfied, you may wish to consider using Stage Two of the Complaints Procedure.

Stage Two
If you wish to proceed to stage two of the procedure, we will provide you with the name and contact details of the CEO to write to regarding your complaint.
Your letter should explain who you are, the nature of the complaint, the name of the member of staff concerned (if applicable), why you are dissatisfied and any other points you feel are relevant.
We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint and confirm that it is being investigated within 1 week. The CEO will work with you, the member of staff concerned and their line manager (if applicable), to resolve the complaint and agree action points. We may wish to talk to you via telephone and/ or arrange face-to-face meetings where necessary. Any agreed action points will be confirmed in writing to you.

Unless you wish to pursue the matter further, the complaint will be considered to have been resolved and a brief record will be made on the project file with a copy in The Way’s Complaint file. If you are still dissatisfied with the outcome, you may proceed to the third and final stage of the Complaints Procedure.

Stage Three
If the above two stages do not resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, you may follow the final stage of this procedure.
You should write to the Chair of The Way Board at the following address and mark the envelope “Confidential: Chair of the Board, The Way, School Street, Wolverhampton.

The Chair, or his/her nominated deputy, will respond to you within 1 month of receipt of your complaint advising how he/she is dealing with your complaint, including whether he/she will deal with it themselves or whether a Complaints Panel will be convened. A Complaints Panel usually comprises of three members of the Board; they are unpaid volunteers and are independent of the employed staff.
If a Complaints Panel meeting is deemed necessary, you will be invited to attend along with the Complaints Panel, the CEO and the relevant line manager at The Way. The panel will normally meet within a further 2 weeks and agree what action should be taken.

The panel’s decision and agreed actions will be communicated to you in writing within a week of the meeting referred to above. If this is not possible, you will receive a written explanation for the delay within that week.

A brief record will be made on The Way’s Complaint file of how the matter was resolved.
Please note that all of the above will depend on upon the nature of the complaint made. If the complaint is deemed to be sufficiently serious, it may be considered appropriate to be referred immediately to Stage 2 (CEO) or Stage 3 (Chair of the Board).