Complaints and Praise Policy

The Praise and Complaints Procedure is intended to bring matters of concern or good practice to the attention of Managers and enable investigation of those concerns with the aim of a satisfactory resolution. The procedure is core to the quality assurance in a-training.

POLICY STATEMENT
The procedure aims to be simple, clear and fair to all parties involved, with informal resolution
an option at any point. Complaints will be handled sensitively and with due consideration to confidentiality. Any person named in a complaint will be informed of the substance of the complaint and will have the right to reply as part of the investigation. It is expected that, except
in exceptional and fully documented circumstances, a complainant who wishes to make a complaint will invoke the Informal Stage in the first instance. In the event of a complaint not being resolved at the Informal Stage, the Formal Procedure may be used. a-training will accept online or written statements of praise or complaint and will take appropriate action to disseminate and/or investigate the claim. Action will be taken where deemed necessary.

ENTITLEMENT
This Praise and Complaints Procedure is for use by staff, students, and clients.
No complainant bringing a complaint under this Procedure, whether successfully or otherwise will be treated less favourably by any member of staff than if the complaint had not been brought. If evidence to the contrary is found in this regard the member of staff may be subject to disciplinary proceedings under a-training policy. Any person making a malicious complaint could lead to disciplinary action being taken.
It should also be noted that anonymous complaints cannot and should not be investigated.

IMPLEMENTATION
The procedure is divided into two parts, an Informal Procedure, which emphasises resolution at the ‘local’ point where the complaint arose, and which may involve the Department Manager.
The Formal Procedure is operated by a Senior Manager within timescales that will enable complaints to be resolved as quickly as possible.

INFORMAL PROCEDURE
It is anticipated that most complaints can be resolved through informal means. Usually, problems can be resolved by explaining the situation and discussing ways forward. Resolution should be sought from the manager of the department in which the complaint arose, by expressing the complaint to the most appropriate member of staff. If assistance is needed to resolve complaints informally, another manager may be called on by either party.

FORMAL PROCEDURE
If the response to the complaint under the Informal Procedure is not considered by the complainant to be satisfactory, or if the complainant does not feel able to use the Informal Procedure. The Formal Procedure involves submitting the complaint in writing to a Director. An initial investigation of the complaint will take place within 10 working days of receipt of the notification and the outcome sent to the complainant. Where necessary, this will be followed by a full response within one calendar month.