Food business training candidates complaints policy

Foreword

Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council's Food Business Unit is committed to providing an efficient and high standard of service to all.

We are continually working to achieve this high level of service by implementing a quality management system.

We take every care to ensure we are delivering a high standard of service but are aware that there may be occasions that we do not meet both your expectations and our expectations. In this instance please raise your concerns with us immediately so we can address them, respond positively, and rectify any mistakes made.

Policy

Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council's Food Business Unit is committed to promoting fairness and equality of treatment to all. We welcome positive or negative feedback from any individual that has been directly affected by our services. We strive to think our learners have confidence that we will listen to their views and act upon them accordingly.

All written correspondence will be acknowledged by us within 7 working days. Any dissatisfaction received will be treated as a complaint.

Our aim is to provide our learners with a clear and precise process to follow when they feel the need to make a complaint. We will effectively communicate the process we will follow to resolve the complaint.

We aim to ensure:

the complaints procedure is an easy process to follow
the complaints procedure is prompt and efficient
all complaints are treated as a dissatisfaction with our level of service
the resolution is to the complainant's satisfaction (the explanation, apology, and action taken)
our staff are courteous, consultative, and responsive when dealing with the complaint
complaints and feedback received is reviewed in line with our quality assurance standards to help improve our products and services

Everyone has the right to raise a complaint. This policy will define the stages and procedures you would need to follow including:

the process you need to follow to raise a complaint
the appropriate person who this should be directed to
the timescales for the complaint to be investigated
how and when you will be notified of the outcome

Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council's Food Business Unit will not accept a complaint under this policy in relation to:

any assessment decision or course results (please refer to the Highfield Awarding Body for Compliance Enquiries and Appeals Policy)
any form of malpractice or maladministration, which will be dealt with under our Malpractice and Maladministration Policy

Raising concerns and making complaints

We are committed to providing an equal opportunity for all, where possible, to communicate with us.

If you have attended a course and are dissatisfied with the service or are seeking a refund of your course fee you must firstly try to resolve this matter with the Environmental Health Team Manager.

A complaint can be raised by an individual, a group or a third party who is acting on behalf of someone else. If a third party is submitting a complaint on behalf of someone else, they will need written permission from the complainant along with the written complaint. This should then be presented to the Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council Food Business Unit for acceptance.

Once Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council's Food Business Unit have received a complaint an acknowledgement will be sent within 7 working days. The complaint will be reviewed in line with our policies and procedures and an investigation will be conducted where necessary. To ensure a fair and thorough process is followed the duration of the investigation will depend on the nature and severity of the complaint we receive at this stage, or the complexity of the response required. We do aim to provide this as soon as the outcome is available or within a maximum of 28 days.

How to make a complaint

Informal process

We understand that most individuals who are not satisfied with a service would like it addressed and dealt with as soon as possible, therefore an informal process would be far more appropriate.

An informal process will be more efficient at resolving complaints quickly by mediating between who is responsible for the dissatisfaction and the complainant. The complaint may be resolved immediately following this process, so we encourage our learners to contact us directly for an informal discussion if they have a complaint that needs to be resolved to achieve the desirable outcome.

If a complaint cannot be resolved informally then the formal complaints procedure should be followed. We may require further information from the complainant to ensure we fully understand what the complaint entails, we will investigate accordingly to achieve the best outcome.

Formal process

Stage one

If the complainant is not satisfied with the outcome from the informal process the dissatisfaction should be submitted in writing to the Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council Food Business Unit. Once we have received this information, we will send acknowledgement of receipt to the complainant within 7 working days and an investigation to resolve the dissatisfaction will commence.

The Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council Food Business Unit will identify an appropriate manager to review the complaint for further investigation and the complainant will be notified of the individual responsible for this. The member of management will conduct a further investigation into the complaint. Upon completion of the investigation they will communicate and notify the complainant and provide them with an explanation or resolution.

To ensure a fair and thorough process is followed the duration of the investigation will depend on the nature and severity of the complaint we receive at this stage, or the complexity of the response required. We do aim to provide this as soon as the outcome is available or within a maximum of 28 days of receiving the stage one complaint. In some cases it may take longer to conclude the complaint with an outcome, in these instances the complainant will be notified of revised timescales.

If the complainant remains dissatisfied with the outcome from the manager's investigation the next step is to pursue stage two of the complaints procedure.

Stage two

If the complainant is not satisfied with the outcome from the stage one complaints process, they can request a review of the complaint by a senior manager. This must take place within 14 days of the outcome of the original complaint and must be submitted in writing.

The senior manager will determine if appropriate procedures were followed and the complaint was answered fully. If there is new evidence submitted in support of the complaint this will also be reviewed. Following the review, we aim to notify the complainant in writing as soon as possible of the outcome, within a maximum of 28 days.

If the provider or learner is not satisfied with the final response, they may then refer the complaint to the awarding body or the appropriate regulatory authority..

Monitoring and review

Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council's Food Business Unit is committed to continual improvement.

All complaints received by the Food Business Unit are reviewed to prevent re-occurrence, to improve the suitability and effectiveness of our policies and procedures, and to contribute to the development of qualifications that are fit for purpose and meet individual needs.