Feedback and Complaints Policy

1. Context

Generation UK & Ireland is committed to providing a high-quality service to all people we work with, including people we support i.e. beneficiaries (applicants, learners, and graduates) and our partners, volunteers, and supporters. Our commitment extends to taking all complaints seriously and ensuring swift and thorough investigations at the appropriate level. Learning from these concerns is a priority for us, helping us mitigate the chances of encountering similar issues in the future.

The feedback we receive is carefully examined and integrated into our operational processes, enhancing our interactions with learners, partners, volunteers, and supporters.

Generation UK & Ireland will keep secure and confidential any information identifying complainants, processing information in accordance with Data Protection principles. Any records containing sensitive information and/or identifying the complainants will be disposed of in a secure manner once the retention period (see below) has passed.

This policy serves as a comprehensive guide on how to lodge a complaint and provide feedback. The policy also outlines Generation UK & Ireland’s approach to handling and resolving such matters.

2. Definition and examples of feedback and complaints

2.1 Feedback, for the purpose of this policy, is defined as an expression of a specific opinion or view on procedures, employees, partners, Generation UK & Ireland activities or quality of Generation UK & Ireland services.

We are committed to ensuring the quality of our service and we want to be the best organisation to volunteer, support and most importantly be supported by. Which is why feedback, including when we get things wrong, is important to us. We will ensure all comments are recorded and considered, enabling improvements to be made where appropriate.

2.2 A complaint, for the purpose of this policy, is defined as an expression of dissatisfaction with Generation UK & Ireland services, whether it is found to be justified or not. This policy covers complaints by our learners, our partners, volunteers, supporters, and members of the public in relation to:

  • The standard of instruction/ learning of service we provide to our learners
  • Our services to our beneficiaries i.e. applicants, learners, and graduates
  • The behavior of staff, contractors, volunteers & trustees working for Generation UK & Ireland
  • Our organisation’s activities and practices. 
  • Any other aspects of our work.

3. Managing complaints

  • Generation UK & Ireland will deal with legitimate complaints in a fair, prompt and objective manner.
  • Complaints will be dealt with without recrimination and anyone raising a complaint will not be disadvantaged by raising a complaint.
  • Generation UK & Ireland will be fair in the treatment of all those who complain irrespective of age, gender, ethnicity, and disability.
  • Complaints will be dealt with promptly and constructively.
  • All complaints will be dealt with in confidence but shared with any person who may be the subject of a complaint.
  • The outcomes of any complaint will be shared with the complainant and any staff involved.
  • The Chief Learning Officer-UK & Ireland will be responsible for the management of complaints made by learners as per the policy, with escalation to the CEO-UK & Ireland where required and appropriate. 
  • Head of People-UK & Ireland will be responsible for the management of complaints made by our partners, volunteers, supporters and wider public as per the policy, with escalation to the CEO-UK & Ireland where required and appropriate. 
  • Generation’s Board of Trustees will also be made aware of any complaints that outline significant and substantiated or probable shortcomings by the organisation, and any complaints that create risk for the organisation (financial risk, reputational risk, or other risk)

4. How do I give feedback or make a complaint?

Feedback and complaints can be submitted to Generation UK & I in the following ways:

  • Feedback & Complaint from Generation UK & Ireland applicants, learners and grads complaints.uki@generation.org
  • Feedback & Complaint from partners, volunteers, supporters & members of public

If you are dissatisfied with any aspects of our work or services, we want to make sure that we investigate your complaint thoroughly and provide you with a timely response. To allow us to do this, please provide as much information as possible when contacting us, including:

  • The reason for your complaint
  • Where and when it happened
  • The name(s) of anyone involved (if known)
  • The outcome you are hoping for
  • Your contact details (name, address, daytime telephone number and/or email)

5. Complaints Procedure

We have separate complaints procedures for Generation beneficiaries i.e. applicants, learners, and graduates and for non- beneficiaries i.e. volunteers, our supporters, and members of the public for ease of resolution and efficiency.

5.1 Procedure for beneficiaries (applicants, learners, and grads)
5.1.1 Informal complaints procedure

  1. Generation UK & Ireland  will aim to resolve most complaints raised by carrying out a restorative conversation between the complainant and the appropriate member(s) of staff.
  2. The initial complaint may be made orally or in writing. Please address any written complaints to the Head of Learning and Inclusion-UK & Ireland and send to: complaints.uki@generation.org
  3. The Head of Learning and Inclusion-UK & Ireland and Chief Learning Officer-UK & Ireland will agree on the next steps and aim to respond to the complainant within 10 working days, orally or in writing. 
  4. If the complainant is dissatisfied with the response received, they should then be directed to use the formal procedure.

5.1.2 Formal complaints procedure

  1. Generation UK&I expect that a formal complaint is made in writing within 15 working days of the incident or action causing the complaint OR from, when the complainant received an oral or written reply to an informal complaint (see above).
  2. Where there are mitigating circumstances, a complaint will be considered after a longer period has elapsed.
  3. The complainant should raise their complaint over email to complaints.uki@generation.org, addressing the Head of Learning and Inclusion-UK & Ireland. 
  4. The complaints team will inform our Growth Data and Operations Team that a complaint has been raised so that the Grant Manager can check whether the cohort’s funder needs to be informed. 
  5. If there is a complaint raised that involves the Head of Learning and Inclusion, an alternative senior manager will be appointed to manage the process. 
  6. The Head of Learning and Inclusion-UK & Ireland will log the complaint and let the complainant know which member of staff will be managing the complaint. 
  7. The member of staff managing the complaint will then carry out an initial assessment of the issue(s) raised. They may interview the complainant and individuals either involved or having witnessed the complaint. The staff member will prepare a summary to be shared with the Head of Learning and Inclusion-UK & Ireland within 10 days of the complaint being raised. 
  8. The Head of Learning and Inclusion-UK & Ireland will record the outcome of the complaint and either arrange a meeting to deliver the outcome or notify all those involved in writing as appropriate.
  9. All outcomes will be confirmed in writing to all those involved. The written response will:
    • Summarise the complaint;
    • Address the points you have raised;
    • Say what the outcome is including whether your complaint is upheld, not upheld or partly upheld;
    • If appropriate, explain what measures are being taken in response to your complaint.
  10. The formal complaint should be resolved within 25 working days of the receipt of the original formal complaint.
  11. If it appears that a decision will not be reached within the due period, those involved will be advised of the need for a longer period.
  12. The decision made will be final, but this does not affect an individual’s legal rights.
  13. The final decision will be shared with the Chief Learning Officer-UK & Ireland, and the CEO-UK & Ireland, and will be escalated further to the Board of Trustees based on the criteria outlined earlier.

5.2. Procedure for non beneficiaries i.e. volunteers, partner, supporter, and members of public

  • Generation UK & Ireland expect that a formal complaint is made in writing within 15 working days of the incident or action causing the complaint OR form when the complainant received an oral or written reply to an informal complaint (see above).
  • Where there are mitigating circumstances, a complaint will be considered after a longer period has elapsed.
  • The complainant should raise their complaint over email to www.generation.ethicspoint.com, addressing the Head of People- UK & Ireland 
  •  Head of People- UK & Ireland  will log the complaint and let the complainant know which member of staff will be managing the complaint. 
  • If there is a complaint raised that involves the  Head of People- UK & Ireland , the ethics team will share the complaint with an alternative senior member of the team, who will log the compliant and let the complainant know which member of staff will be managing the complaint. 
  • The member of staff managing the complaint will then carry out an initial assessment of the issue(s) raised. They may get in touch with the complainant and individuals either involved or having witnessed the complaint for more information. 
  • All outcomes will be confirmed in writing to all those involved. The written response will:
    • Summarise the complaint;
    • Address the points you have raised;
    • Say what the outcome is including whether your complaint is upheld, not upheld or partly upheld;
    • If appropriate, explain what measures are being taken in response to your complaint.
  • The formal complaint should be resolved within 25 working days of the receipt of the original formal complaint.
  • If it appears that a decision will not be reached within the due period, those involved will be advised of the need for a longer period.
  • The final decision will be shared with the Head of People- UK & Ireland, the CEO- Uk & Ireland, and will be escalated further to the Board of Trustees based on the criteria outlined earlier.

If, for any reason, you aren’t happy with the resolution of your complaint, let us know within 5 working days. Please tell us why you were not satisfied with our response and what you would like us to do to put things right. Your complaint will be escalated to the CEO- UK & Ireland.

The CEO- Uk & Ireland will review your complaint and respond within 7 workings days.

6. Closing a complaint

Generation UK & Ireland will consider each complaint carefully and decide upon an appropriate course of action. All complaints will be reviewed. In some cases, it may not be possible to investigate or substantiate complaints, or it may fall outside of our responsibilities.

If you have made a complaint and provided contact details, you will be informed of any part of the investigation which may involve you directly.

However, due to confidentiality and legal restrictions Generation UK & Ireland may not disclose the outcome of the investigation, or any information gained during the investigation, for example, Generation UK & Ireland may only report that an investigation has been carried out and appropriate action taken. All complainants will be responded to as per the procedures and time frames set out above.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Charity Commission on 0845 300 0218 or visit their website www.charitycommission.gov.uk  for advice. 

If your complaint is related to services provided in Scotland, you can contact the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator on 01382 220446 or visit their website www.oscr.org.uk  for advice. 

If your complaint is related to services provided in Ireland, you can contact the the Charities Regulator on 01-6331550 or visit their website https://www.charitiesregulator.ie/

If your complaint relates to how we collect and use your personal information, you have the right to report your concerns to the UK data protection regulator, The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) www.ico.org.uk.

7. Unreasonably persistent complaints

There are a small number of complainants who, because of the frequency, nature and quality of their contact with Generation UK & Ireland, hinder our consideration of theirs, or other people’s, complaints. We refer to such complainants as ‘unreasonably persistent complainants’ and, exceptionally, we will take action to limit their contact with our staff and volunteers.

The decision to restrict access to our staff and volunteers will be taken by the CEO in consultation with senior management and will normally follow a prior warning to the complainant. Any restrictions imposed will be appropriate and proportionate.

In exceptional cases contact with a complainant may be terminated without restrictions first being imposed. This will be dependent on the individual circumstances but would be an option if the complainant’s behavior is particularly severe, or includes threats to Generation UK & Ireland staff, volunteers, contractors or learners.

In all cases where we decide to treat someone as an unreasonably persistent complainant, we will write to tell the complainants why we believe their behavior falls into that category, what action we are taking and the duration of that action. We will also tell them how they can challenge the decision if they disagree with it. If we decide to carry on treating someone as an unreasonably persistent complainant and we are still investigating their complaint six months later, we will carry out a review and decide if restrictions will continue.

Where a complainant whose case is closed persists in communicating with us about it, we may decide to terminate contact with that complainant about the matter. In such cases, we will read all correspondence from that complainant, but unless there is fresh evidence which affects our decision on the complaint, we will simply acknowledge it or place it on the file with no acknowledgement.

8. Feedback procedure

8.1 If you are a Learner feedback should be sent to complaints.uki@generation.org, addressing the Head of Learning and Inclusion- UK & Ireland and if you are  volunteers, partner, supporter, and members of public, feedback should be sent to www.generation.ethicspoint.com, addressing the  Head of People- UK & Ireland.

8.2 The named persons receiving feedback will log the feedback and pass on the feedback to the relevant team for consideration & integration where appropriate.

9. Confidentiality

While Generation UK & Ireland will treat any information given to us sensitively, we cannot always guarantee to keep your identity confidential as we may need to disclose your identity if required to do so by law.

It should also be noted that your identity may be recognisable to others during the investigation due to the nature of the complaint, although we will endeavor to limit the risk of this where possible.

All complaints will be logged by Generation UK & Ireland for reporting and monitoring purposes. Details of complaints are kept in accordance with our data protection policy.

10. Reviewing the complaints procedure

Generation UK & Ireland will review the Complaints Procedure every 12 months to include:

  • Number of complaints of each type
  • Time taken to process complaints
  • List of outstanding complaints
  • Outcomes to complaints
  • Results of appeals
  • Analysis of complaints and outcomes by age, gender and ethnicity of the complainant.

Any changes to the Complaints Policy and Procedure, should these be required, will be communicated with all staff members, contractors and service users.

For audit purposes, Generation UK & Ireland will keep a record of all complaints for the period of 3 years and will make these available to relevant authorities on request.

11. Links to other policies and procedures

Other policies that are relevant to this policy are: Generation UK & Ireland Whistleblowing Procedure

Document owner: Yasmeen Seth, Head of People- UK & Ireland
Last updated: November 2023