Introduction
Power2 strives for high standards in our work and welcomes feedback from individuals, beneficiaries, stakeholders, funding bodies and anyone who works with us, on all aspects of our work. Such feedback is invaluable in helping us evaluate and improve our work.
This policy applies to individuals (members of the public), beneficiaries, volunteers and trustees and organisations wishing to comment on, compliment or complain about the performance of services, fundraising activities, and the conduct of employees, volunteers, contractors and third parties working with or representing Power2. All Power2 programme workbooks contain a page that is easy for children and young people to understand and follow should they wish to make a compliment, comment or complaint about anything related to their involvement with the charity.
This policy does not apply to Power2 employees, freelancers or consultants. In the event that they wish to make a complaint, they should refer to the relevant Power2 policies e.g. Grievance Policy, Whistleblowing Policy and the Safeguarding policy as appropriate. Those people to whom this policy does not apply should make their compliments and comments to their line manager.
Summary
Those wishing to submit a compliment, comment or complaint can do so through our website, using the ‘enquiry’ form accessed via the contact button. Alternatively, they can contact us by writing to: Head of Operations, Power2, 26A Warrington Street, Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside, OL6 6AS.
Please read on for full details on how your compliment, comment or complaint will be handled.
Aims and objectives
The objectives of Power2’s compliments, comments and complaints policy are to:
- Ensure everyone knows how to make submit a compliment, comment or complaint
- Outline how a complaint will be handled
- Ensure that complaints are dealt with consistently, fairly and sensitively within clear time frames
- Provide individuals with a fair and effective way to compliment, comment or complain about our work
- Ensure that complaints are monitored to improve our services.
Compliments and comments
Compliments and comments are helpful to hear, valuable and important to us and when they are received, they will be recorded and reported on. Compliments and comments enable us to:
- understand from our beneficiaries, supporters and stakeholders what we do well and the positive difference this makes
- provide positive feedback to our people
- help to influence the organisational decisions we make
- help maintain the standards of our activities
- raise issues of real importance and can lead to change for the better.
We will endeavour to acknowledge compliments and comments wherever possible but whilst this may not always be practicable, please be assured that they are always appreciated.
Those wishing to submit a compliment or comment can do so through our website, using the ‘enquiry’ form accessed via the contact button. Alternatively, they can contact us by writing to: Head of Operations, Power2, 26A Warrington Street, Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside, OL6 6AS.
Complaints
We recognise that there will be times when our trustees, staff and volunteers or third parties working on our behalf make mistakes or get things wrong. Where this happens and where we receive a complaint, we will always take this seriously, record and report on it internally and externally if required, and deal with it in a timely manner.
All complaints will be dealt with constructively, impartially and effectively in accordance with the complaints procedure.
We will always take steps to maintain the confidentiality of your personal information. We will only disclose it to people who need to look into your complaint, and, rarely, to others where we are legally permitted to do so.
A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction by an individual, whether justified or not. An individual may make a complaint if they feel Power2 has:
Complaints defined
- Failed to provide a service or an acceptable standard of service or made a mistake in the way the service was provided
- Failed to act in a proper way
- Provided an unfair service.
This policy relates only to complaints received about Power2 and its services. This means that if the complaint is about another organisation, such as a school, Power2 may be able to advise you on how to access that school’s complaints procedure but has no authority to investigate such complaints itself.
It is important to establish the difference between a concern and a complaint. Taking informal concerns seriously at the earliest stage will reduce the likelihood of them developing into formal complaints.
A complaint is not:
- A general enquiry or comment of the charity’s work
- A means to address a contractual or legal dispute
- A formal request for disclosure of information
- A minor dissatisfaction which staff and volunteers may deal with on a day-to-day basis
- An issue dealt with as part of a consultation process
If you have any concerns about our work, please tell a member of staff or their manager as soon as possible, so they can quickly understand your concerns and try to put things right.
Complaints procedure
Power2 aims to settle the majority of complaints quickly and satisfactorily through the member of staff who provides the service. The complaint may be resolved quickly by way of an apology or by an acceptable explanation to the individual.
There are three stages to the complaints procedure:
- Stage One – the complaint
- Stage Two – investigation
- Stage Three – appeal
Complaints received anonymously will be recorded and considered, but action may be limited if further information is required to ensure a full and fair investigation.
Stage One – Complaint
The complaint can be written or if the individual prefers, they can tell someone at Power2, or someone else, who will write it down for them. A complaint form is available to use at appendix 1.
Individuals wishing to make a complaint can do so through our website, using the ‘enquiry’ form accessed via the contact button. Alternatively, they can contact us by writing to: Head of Operations, Power2, 26A Warrington Street, Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside, OL6 6AS.
The complaint should include the complainant’s name and address, the nature and date of the complaint and how they want to see it resolved. The complaints form can be requested and can be sent to the complainant or collected by the complainant.
On receipt, each complaint will be allocated a reference number and logged on the complaints register. Complainants must receive an acknowledgement within five working days of receipt of a signed complaint.
Stage Two – Investigation
All complaints at this stage should be dealt with by a manager or if the manager feels that the complaint is of a very serious nature or concerns a member of the Senior Management Team (SMT) then it will be referred to the CEO. If the complaint is about the CEO, then the matter will be discussed with the Board Chair. If they need to meet with the complainant, they will aim to do so within seven working days of receiving the written complaint.
Complaints will be fully investigated, and a written response provided to the complainant within 15 working days by the investigator.
The complainant will receive written confirmation of the outcome of any investigation and any recommendations/remedies made, such as reviewing of policies, staff development and training or appropriate improvement to our services. Where the complaint is upheld, an apology should be offered.
Occasionally investigations may take longer, particularly if the complaint is complex. Should this be the case a holding letter will be sent after 15 working days and a final date given for a conclusion to be reached.
If an individual remains dissatisfied with the outcome from Stage Two, they can appeal within 10 working days of the date of the outcome and progress to Stage Three.
The complaints register will be updated, and any pending complaints flagged so they are followed up.
Please note under certain circumstances we may not be able to respond to a complaint for example where:
- contact details have not been provided
- the complaint is not about Power2
- the expression of the complaint is insufficiently clear
- the complaint has been sent to us and other organisations as part of a bulk mailing or email.
Power2 will not respond to complaints which are abusive or otherwise discriminatory in nature.
Stage Three – Appeal
If the complaint cannot be resolved to the complainant’s satisfaction at stage two, it will be referred to the CEO.
The CEO and/or Trustees will acknowledge receipt within five working days. They will review the Stage Two investigation and recommend one of the following actions within 10 working days (from the date the complainant stated they wanted to take the complaint to stage 3):
- Uphold the action taken at Stage Two
- Make changes to the Stage Two recommendation/actions.
The complainant should be informed in writing of the outcome of stage three. The decision reached about this complaint will then be final but other options available to the complainant (as listed below) should be detailed in the letter.
If after Power2 has been through the three stages and the complainant is still not satisfied with the result, they should be advised that there is no further right of appeal to Power2, but they could approach any of the following agencies for advice:
- A solicitor
- Citizens Advice Bureau
This should be done within one month of receiving the outcome from the appeal.
Data protection
Complaints are an important tool which allow us to learn about the services we provide. They provide a useful source of information about how individuals see our services and how we are serving them. To ensure we can learn from complaints the following data will be collected:
- Name and address
- Name of person dealing with the complaint
- Date of complaint and response
- Nature of complaint
- Action(s) taken/recommendations made in response to the complaint Lessons learnt
To process a complaint Power2 will hold personal data about the complainant, which the individual provides, and which other people give in response to the complaint. We will hold this data securely and only use it to address the complaint. The identity of the person making the complaint will only be known to those who need to consider the complaint and will not be revealed to other people or made public. However, it may not be possible to preserve confidentiality in some circumstances, for example, where relevant legislation is applied, or allegations are made which involve the conduct of third parties.
Power2 will normally destroy complaints files in a secure manner six years after the complaint has been closed.
External bodies
If after Power2 has been through the three stages and the complainant is still not satisfied with the result, they should be advised that there is no further right of appeal to Power2, but they could approach any of the following agencies for advice:
- A solicitor
- Citizens Advice Bureau
- The Charity Commission (England & Wales)
- The Fundraising Regulator
http://www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk/make-a-complaint/complaints
- The Advertising Standards Authority
- The Information Commissioner’s Office
This should be done within one month of receiving the outcome from the appeal.
Review
Complaints information will be considered on a regular basis by the Senior Management Team and reported annually to the Power2 Board of Trustees. If appropriate the data will be used to improve and develop the service.
This policy will be monitored and reviewed every three years by the Senior Management Team, or earlier if the legislation changes.
Related policies
This policy should be read in conjunction with the following Power2 policies:
- Grievance procedure
- Disciplinary policy
- Safeguarding policy
- Whistleblowing policy.
The following external guidance documents support this policy:
- The Children Acts 1989 and 2004
- Working Together to Safeguard Children 2013
- Data Protection Act 2018
- Good Governance: a code for the voluntary and community sector
- The Fundraising Regulator’s Code of Fundraising Practice
Approval
This policy has been considered and approved by the Senior Management Team.
Julie Randles
Chief Executive
26 June 2025
