Complaints and Appeals Policy
This document incorporates how we will as a business:
-
What a complaint is
-
How to raise a complaint
-
How long it takes for complaint to be resolved.
Workforce Training and Development (WTD) prides itself on delivering first class customer service. The delivery of an outstanding customer experience is a key tenant of its strategic objective and organisational values.
What is a complaint?
WTD recognise that sometimes things may not meet the high standards that WTD aim to achieve, and individuals may deem the service provided as unsatisfactory or unacceptable. WTD actively encourages feedback from all of our service users and will be open and transparent in its investigation procedures, reporting procedures, resolution of complaints, and lessons learned.
This procedure aims to ensure that complaints are resolved promptly and fairly, and that all members of WTD Staff and Learners are aware of the procedures that are in place for the reporting of a complaint/potential complaint. The procedure covers all areas of operational activity. The procedure can therefore be used by any Learner, parent, carer or guardian, employer, member of staff, visitor, contractor or member of the local community who has reason to be unhappy with the service provided by WTD.
The procedure covers complaints in whatever form they are received. WTD encourage feedback, both positive and negative, through a range of channels including over the telephone, email, through the post to the WTD registered business address, in person to a specific member of staff, via the 'contact us' button on the website and via social media channels. In whatever form complaints are received, the principles of this procedure shall still apply.
WTD strongly believe that most issues can be resolved quickly and informally. However, serious incidents or incidents where the informal stage has not been able to resolve matters may need to be escalated to the next stage in the process.
There are two further formal stages to the complaints process and then recourse for individuals to take their complaint to external bodies who have oversight of the quality and funding for all aspects of WTD's provision.
How to raise a complaint
A formal complaint must be made within three months of the issue first arising and should be made in writing to:
Operations Director
Workforce Training and Development
13 Lanark Square,
London,
England,
E14 9QD
Or email: complaints@wtd.org.uk
Alternatively, formal complaints can be provided over the telephone. If this is the case, full details of the complaint issue should be taken alongside contact details for the complainant. The complaint details should then be passed over to the Safeguarding Manager within the hour; initially on email and followed with a telephone call to perform a warm handover.
WTD will act on anonymous complaints in exceptional circumstances and where it feels that matters are significant or serious enough to warrant investigation without knowing the details of the complainant.
WTD will acknowledge receipt of the formal complaint within two working days of the complaint being made. An Investigating Officer, usually a manager from within the team subject to the complaint will be identified by the Safeguarding Manager. In particularly serious matters, the CEO may be asked to act as Investigating Officer.
All complaints made to the Senior Leadership Team directly will be logged as per the procedure above with an Investigating Officer appointed.
Upon receipt of a complaint, the Investigating Officer will consider the issues raised by the
complainant and may contact them to gather further information. As part of the investigation, the Investigating Officer may contact other members of Staff or interview other individuals in order to aid them in their investigation. They will aim to respond in writing to the complainant within ten working days, however, where this is not possible, an update will be provided to the complainant within ten working days.
Their response will:
-
detail their findings.
-
explain the reason for the investigation.
-
propose a resolution or workaround if appropriate,
-
state whether their investigation has upheld the issues raised by the complainant.
A copy of the response will be logged in the Central Complaints Record and will be subject to Document Maintenance Procedures regarding the safe storage of records and documents.
Resolving a complaint
Stage 1 - Informal Resolution
If you have a potential complaint, you should raise this informally in the first instance with your Line Manager (if you are a WTD employee) or Trainer/Skills Coach (if you are a WTD Apprentice or Learner). They are trained to deal with complaints and will aim to resolve this with you to a satisfactory outcome within 48 hours.
WTD will record the complaint for future reference and to track all complaints received by the Business. A copy of the response will be logged in the Central Complaints Record and will be subject to Document Maintenance Procedures regarding the safe storage of records and documents.
If you are not satisfied with the manner in which your complaint has been dealt with, you should proceed to Stage 2 below.
Stage 2 - Formal Resolution
If resolution cannot be found at the informal stage or matters are too significant for the informal approach to be appropriate, individuals may wish to make a formal complaint.
You can make a formal complaint as detailed in Section 2 of this Policy Document. A formal
complaint will be dealt with in the following manner:
-
The Operations Director will appoint an Investigating Officer. In the event the complaint is about the OD the OD will refer this to the SLT to appoint an Investigating Officer.
-
The Investigating Officer will acknowledge receipt of the complaint from the complainant formally within 48 hours of receiving it and will set out the process to be followed which will follow the format below:
-
Initial research and investigation
-
Interviews with the relevant parties
-
Collecting of evidence and the discovery process
-
Formulating conclusions
-
Report writing and determining outcomes.
-
Final evaluations and lessons learned.
-
Communication of outcomes and lessons learned.
-
-
The timescale for a full resolution to a formal complaint is set at 7 days; however, where this is not possible, the Investigating Officer will contact the Complainant to advise of the reasons for delay.
-
The Complainant will receive communication every 3-working day’s, either verbally or preferably by email.
-
The Complainant will receive a copy of the final report as well as a copy of the recommendations, and the OD will respond formally to the Complainant with official details of what the business proposes to do about the Complaint that was raised.
Stage 3 - Internal Appeal
In most cases, complaints can be resolved within Stage Two. However, it may be that the
Complainant is not satisfied with the resolution proposed or the outcome of the complaint. In these instances, individuals have the right to appeal.
Appeals should be made in writing to the CEO and should be made within ten working days from the receipt of the original response letter.
The CEO will acknowledge receipt of the appeal within two working days. They will then consider the original investigation, any evidence that was not considered as part of the original complaint and the reasonableness of the proposed resolution. They will determine whether the appeal has grounds and will respond in writing within ten working days from the date of receipt.
The response made by the CEO will outline whether the appeal has been upheld in full, partially, or not at all, and may suggest an alternative resolution to that proposed in the original response.
The decision of the CEO is final and as such, internal procedures for complaints are deemed to have been exhausted at this stage.
Complaints about a senior post-holder or concerns about potentially fraudulent, corrupt, or irregular activity and Whistleblowing.
WTD is committed to the highest standards of integrity, probity, transparency and openness at all levels of the business. We maintain a Whistleblowing Procedure in line with relevant legislation and best practice, which covers complaints against a senior post-holder or concerns about potentially fraudulent, corrupt, or irregular activity.
Should you wish to understand more about the Whistleblowing Procedures, please refer to the WTD Whistleblowing Policy on the WTD website.
Continuing a complaint beyond WTD
For learners as well employers and employees involved in accredited/regulated programs, individuals have the right to seek independent external review via the relevant Awarding Body or End Point Assessment Organisation (EPAO) Complaints Procedure if they remain unsatisfied with the outcome of any complaint once all internal procedures have been followed.
For all none Awarding Body or EPAO related issues, individuals have the right to contact the
Education and Skills Funding Agency 08000 150 600 or helpdesk@manage-apprenticeships.service.gov.uk
Both agencies will want to satisfy themselves that the internal complaints processes of WTD have been exhausted prior to acting upon complaints.
Academic Appeals Procedure
Stage 1
During the course of your assessment your Trainer/Assessor will ask you to perform certain tasks or exercises to establish your knowledge of the requirements of the programme of learning that you are undertaking. Your Trainer/Assessor is required to ensure that you meet standards laid down by the Awarding Organisation and other relevant bodies in relation to your programme of learning. In the unlikely event that you disagree with a decision or action taken by your Trainer/Assessor you have the right to appeal.
Discuss your concerns with your Trainer/Assessor on an informal basis (immediately).
If resolved, no further action is required. In the event of a concern not being resolved, then the Appeal Procedure form must be completed with your Trainer/Assessor within 5 working days. The Trainer/Assessor will formally discuss the appeal with the Quality Assurer within 2 working days.
Stage 2
The Quality Assurer (QA) will agree a date to meet with the Trainer/Assessor and learner (where appropriate) to discuss the appeal. This should not take longer than 5 working days. The QA must refer the appeal to the Quality Manager within 2 working days if the appeal is not resolved at Stage 2.
Stage 3
The Quality Manager (QM) will agree a date to meet with the Trainer/Assessor and learner (where appropriate) to discuss the appeal. This meeting should take place within 5 working days. The Quality Manager (QM) should notify the relevant parties of the outcome of Stage 3 in writing within 5 working days.
Stage 4
In the event of Stage 3 not resolving the appeal, the Head of Quality is responsible for convening an Appeals Panel with the relevant Awarding Organisation / End Point Assessment Organisation with a suitable timescale. This should ideally be no longer than 10 days after Stage 3 has been completed. Once adjudicated, the Panel's decision must be sent to all parties and the External Verifier / Senior Verifier / External Quality Assurer within 10 working days of the Panel Meeting by the Head of Quality.
For the contact details of your Trainer, IQA, Quality Manager, and Awarding Body, please log in to your OneFile account, navigate to the 'Forms' tab, and select 'Appeals Procedure.' All relevant names and contact information can be found there.
Authorised by
Pauline Price
COO
Workforce Training & Development