Complaints Procedure
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Addysg Oedolion Cymru | Adult Learning Wales aims to provide high-quality services to our learners and members and to the organisations with which we work in partnership.
We are committed to providing a high standard of service and to continuously improving and extending what we can offer. However, we recognise that there may be occasions when things go wrong. Sometimes you may be dissatisfied with the way we have applied our policies or with the services you have received. It is important that you tell us when this happens so that we can deal speedily with the problem you have raised. Feedback really does help us to improve the quality of our work.
This procedure is intended for learners, members and partners. Staff grievances will be dealt with under the Grievance procedure. Concerns relating to potential safeguarding issues should be raised under the organisation’s Safeguarding Policy.
You may complain under this procedure if you feel:
- The service you have received from Addysg Oedolion Cymru | Adult Learning Wales has failed to meet our service standards
- You have not been treated in accordance with our policies and procedures
- You are unhappy with the behaviour of our staff
Complaints will be managed in line with the Welsh Government’s Good Practice Guidance for Further Education Colleges and Work-Based Learning Providers, a copy of which will be provided with the Complaints Procedure as appropriate.
We consistently review the nature and number of all complaints. The monitoring and review of complaints contributes to our process of self-assessment leading to an improved quality of service.
2.0 PROCEDURE
2.1 STAGE 1 (Informal Stage)
If you are unhappy about any of our services, we undertake to deal quickly and effectively with the matter. As a first step, we suggest that you contact the member of staff concerned to see if the problem can be resolved to your satisfaction. Addysg Oedolion Cymru | Adult Learning Wales staff will do everything they can to put things right, including reviewing procedures to stop problems happening again. The contact will be acknowledged within 5 working days. The staff member will seek to resolve the matter within 10 working days during which a copy of the Complaints Procedure will be made available to you. If, at this point, the matter has not been resolved to your satisfaction you can make a formal complaint in writing to the Head of Learner Services and HR (the Designated Complaints Officer).
2.2 STAGE 2 (Formal Stage)
Complaints of a serious or complex nature, where more consideration and investigation is required before reaching a solution, will be dealt with under the formal stage of the procedure.
In addition, if you are not satisfied with the response provided under Stage 1, you can progress your complaint to stage 2 by writing to the Head of Learner Services and HR at Addysg Oedolion Cymru | Adult Learning Wales, 7 Coopers Yard, Curran Road, Cardiff CF10 5NB. The Head of Learner Services and HR will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 5 working days.
The Head of Learner Services and HR will arrange an investigation into the issues raised and will provide you with a response to the complaint within 10 working days.
2.3 STAGE 3
If you are not satisfied with the response provided under Stage 2, you can refer your complaint to the Chief Executive. You should write to the Chief Executive at Addysg Oedolion Cymru | Adult Learning Wales, 7 Coopers Yard, Curran Road, Cardiff CF10 5NB, setting out your initial complaint and why you feel that the response to your complaint is unsatisfactory. The Chief Executive will acknowledge receipt of your letter within 5 working days.
The Chief Executive will carry out a further investigation into the issues raised and will provide you with a response to the complaint within 10 working days.
2.4 APPEALS STAGE
If you do not feel that the Chief Executive’s Stage 3 response is acceptable, you have the right to ask for your complaint to be referred to an appeals panel. Appeals must be submitted to the Head of Learner Services and HR within 15 working days of receiving the response to the Stage 2 investigation.
The appeals panel will consist of designated members of Addysg Oedolion Cymru | Adult Learning Wales’s Governing Body. The Chief Executive may also refer complaints to the panel. You will be advised of the date of the panel meeting which will normally convene within 15 working days of the referral.
You will be notified of the panel’s decision within 5 working days of its meeting.
In the case of a complaint from an individual or organisation that is not a member of Addysg Oedolion Cymru | Adult Learning Wales, the panel’s decision is final.
Addysg Oedolion Cymru | Adult Learning Wales members are entitled to raise any issue in relation to the management and administration of the organisation at the Annual General Meeting, providing that the correct procedures have been followed. Please contact the Chief Executive at least 8 weeks before the advertised date of the meeting who will advise you on the steps to take.
3.0 USE OF WELSH LANGUAGE
Complaints about the Welsh language and our compliance with the service delivery standards and operational standards that have been applied to us in line with our Welsh language compliance notice will be dealt with in accordance with our organisational complaints procedure (or grievance procedure if the complainant is an employee)
Learners, members and partners have the right to raise a complaint under this procedure in Welsh if they wish. The organisation will respond to any complaints submitted in Welsh in the same language, and as part of this response we will inform the employee of their right to use Welsh during the complaints process.
We will ask whether they would like to use Welsh at any investigation meeting relating to a complaint. For this purpose, we may need to use a simultaneous translation service from Welsh to English at that meeting.
We will inform individuals about any decisions we have reached in relation to a complaint made by them in Welsh, if that member of staff has made the complaint in Welsh; has responded in Welsh to a complaint made about them, or has asked to use the Welsh language at a meeting about the complaint.
We will provide training to people who are required to take part in meetings relating to complaints in how to use Welsh effectively in these meetings.
In the absence of a Welsh speaking manager being available to investigate a grievance, we will engage a suitably qualified person who can facilitate the procedure through the medium of Welsh and operate to meet the requirements of our procedure.
Contact Information
Address
Addysg Oedolion Cymru | Adult Learning Wales
7, Coopers Yard, Curran Road
Cardiff CF10 5NB
Phone
03300 580845