Policy Statement
It is expected that all Partners and employees will understand and adhere to this policy when conducting FTW business. This policy can be accessed via FTW Sharepoint, the Breathe HR system and the company website. It is updated annually unless otherwise required by statute or accrediting body.
Any questions arising in relation to these policies should be directed to the Quality Assurance Manager or to FTW employees.
Introduction and Definitions
The Complaints and Feedback Policy covers how FTW and its Partners manage complaints received from its customers and learners.
All Partners of FTW will ensure that their individual organisation Complaints, Compliments and Feedback Policy complies with the requirements of this document. FTW will verify this through annual due diligence monitoring.
For the purposes of this document the following definitions are utilised:
Customer
A Customer is an individual or organisation utilising any of the services provided by FTW and/or its Partners. This includes, but is not limited to, learners enrolled on programmes with Partners, their parents should they be aged 16-18, and their employers. Staff employed by Partners may also use this policy to complain about any aspect of FTW provision.
Complaint
A complaint is identified when a customer expresses dissatisfaction regarding provision of a service delivered by FTW or through of its Partners.
This policy covers the following key sections:
- 1. Customer Complaints Procedure
- 2. Raising a Complaint
- 3. Recording customer Complaints
- 4. Data Protection
- 5. Customer Complaint Process
- 6. Appeals Process.
- 7. Complaints Escalation to other Awarding/Funding bodies
- 8. Contravention of this Policy
Customer Complaints Procedure
FTW considers all complaints raised by customers/ learners as extremely serious and will look to deal with them as quickly and effectively as possible, and to the customer’s complete satisfaction. Therefore, all FTW and their Partners’ employees are committed to responding to any complaint raised within 5 working days of receipt.
Any complaint made by an employer or a direct customer, will need to be reported to and dealt with by FTW. A customer who is dissatisfied with any services provided by a Partner, must be dealt with by the Partner organisation in the first instance, and must only be escalated to FTW should a satisfactory local solution not be reached. FTW expect that any complaint will be responded to promptly, properly, fairly and consistently, and, under normal circumstances, within a maximum of 5 working days from the complaint being raised by the customer. A resolution will be agreed and communicated with 10 working days. Where there is an unavoidable delay, the customer will be kept informed of this and provided with a revised timescale.
In more complex cases, where the complaint may take longer than 10 working days to investigate and resolve the issue, the customer will still be notified within 10 working days of any progress made to date, the reason for the delay and the revised timescale. This notification will either be in writing or via email.
Where a customer complains about a member of staff, the complaints procedure ensures this is investigated fairly, openly, and thoroughly.
Raising a Complaint
FTW and its Partners encourage any customers who are dissatisfied with any aspect of our service and wish to register a complaint, to bring this to our attention as soon as possible.
In the first instance, and where possible, this should be raised with personnel at a local level e.g., with the course tutor at the Partner provider, and consequently in accordance with their procedure. However, if this is not possible or appropriate, the complainant should deal directly with a Partner of the management team at the member provider.
There are some incidents in which it may not be appropriate to raise a complaint with the member partner, and in these instances, we suggest customers contact FTW directly.
These are:
Complaints about discrimination based on:
- age
- sex
- race, religion or belief
- sexual orientation
- disability
- pregnancy or maternity
- marriage or civil partnership
- gender reassignment
The government’s counter terrorism strategy:
FTW is committed to preventing people from being drawn into extremism and terrorism. If an individual has concerns about a possible terrorist act; or concerns about any individual they believe may be involved in extremism, they may use this route to contact us for support.
Any of the following, relating to yourself or to another person and to the member:
- physical abuse
- sexual abuse or inappropriate conduct
- emotional or psychological abuse, or bullying
When making contact, the customer should provide their full name and contact details, including a daytime telephone number. The following information should also be provided:
- A full description of the complaint (including the subject matter and dates and times if known)
- Any names of the people who have dealt with the complaint so far
- Copies of any documentation or letters which relate to the complaint FTW and its Partners asks that a complaint is raised as soon as possible after the event so that we can investigate fully, and in a timely manner.
Recording Customer Complaints
Partners are accountable for recording, and sharing with FTW, the following details about each complaint received:
- The name of the customer raising the complaint, and basic details regarding the complainant to enable monitoring under equalities legislation.
- The date on which the complaint was received, and the date on which a response was provided.
- The nature of the complaint.
- Details of the investigation conducted.
- The resolution provided.
- Whether the complaint is closed (where the customer is satisfied with the resolution) or remains open (where they remain dissatisfied and wish a further investigation to take place or an alternative resolution to be provided)
Collating this information from each Partner monthly, FTW will maintain records on the following:
- Number and nature of complaints
- Dates complaints received and dates of responses.
- Performance in meeting the timescales.
- Outcome of complaints at each stage i.e. upheld, not upheld, resolved etc.
- Level of customer satisfaction with the way the complaint has been handled.
- Any trends in complaints relating to Equality & Diversity impact measures
- Records of complaints form a basis from which we will strive to improve the services delivered by FTW and its Partners. All complaints, and their respective outcomes, will be fed back to all personnel involved to use the information/feedback to avoid similar issues occurring in future.
FTW and its Partners can use complaints information as follows:
- As an opportunity to learn more about customers’ issues and dissatisfaction
- As a means of measuring the quality of our services and levels of customer satisfaction
- To implement improvements with the services we provide
- To identify any gaps in the provision of services and to address these gaps.
- To improve relationships with customers
Data Protection
All customer personal or business information gathered and/or held during the submission and investigation of a complaint will be kept in strict confidence, for the sole use of FTW and/or its Partners in meeting its stated objectives. No information will be released to a third party in a format that will allow identification, except with the express consent of the individual, or as may be required by law.
Customer Complaint Process
Complaints received at partner level:
All Partners personnel must follow their respective customer complaint process to ensure that all complaints and/or any other issues are being logged, investigated, and resolved to the customers’ satisfaction. Where identified, improvements should be implemented to further reduce the potential risk of complaints and/or issues occurring in the future. Records of all complaints must be kept by the partner so that they can be reviewed by FTW on a regular basis as a part of the Quality Assurance process. Should it not be possible for the partner to reach a satisfactory resolution, they must provide the complainant with the contact details for FTW who will follow the procedure outlined below. The partner must also inform FTW that a complaint will be forthcoming and demonstrate full cooperation in the consequent investigation.
Complaints received directly by FTW or escalated from a Partner: The complaints procedure involves 4 individual stages:
Stage 1 – Complaint received by FTW Quality Team
Stage 2 – Investigation
Stage 3 – Outcome
Stage 4 – Resolution Stage 1
Stage 1: Complaint received
• Quality Team Member collects full contact details and nature of the complaint from the customer.
• Quality Manager informs the customer that an investigation will be conducted, and a resolution sought within 10 working days of receipt of the complaint.
• A letter/email will be sent from the Quality Team acknowledging the complaint to the customer, including a copy of the Complaint Policy, and referencing an estimated timescale for completion of the investigation.
• Quality Manager to identify investigation lead and share all relevant details.
Stage 2 – Investigation
• The relevant member of FTW Quality Team will conduct a full investigation into the complaint/issue raised by the customer within 10 working days of receipt of the complaint.
• The Quality Team will support with the investigation where required and ensure all issues are fully investigated and recorded within the agreed timescale.
• The relevant Manager will keep the customer informed and updated on the progress of the investigation and, along with the Quality Manager, will also ensure timely resolution of the complaint.
• Where a complaint is raised against a partner, the relevant Quality Team member will inform the person responsible for customer satisfaction within the member’s organisation.
Stage 3 – Outcome
• FTW Management team will make a judgement based on the investigation findings and conclude on any action required to address the complaint.
• The outcome of the investigation and any additional actions that may be required will be confirmed by the Quality Manger and communicated to the investigating manager.
Stage 4 – Resolution
• The Quality Manager will communicate the outcome of the investigation to the customer via telephone/email/face to face contact within 10 working days from judgement.
• The Quality Manager will write to the customer with the investigation findings and outcome.
• The Quality Manager will update the complaints log, with any actions established from the investigation to be shared with the Senior Management Team during the monthly FTW Senior Management Meeting.
Appeals Process
In the unlikely event that the customer remains unhappy regarding the outcome of the investigation into their complaint, the customer retains the right to escalate their complaint to the Executive Director. Any additional information should be included for consideration, and the customer should state clearly why they remain unhappy with the outcome. Based on this information, the Executive Director will investigate the complaint further and respond within 5 working days from receipt of appeal.
The Executive Director can be contacted as follows:
Jamie Rice
Paddock Business Centre
2 Paddock Road
Skelmersdale
WN8 9PL
0151 420 3444
Complaints Escalation to Other Awarding/ Funding Bodies
If a complaint is raised by an externally funded learner and the learner is not happy with the outcome of the investigation, then the learner will be provided with the contact details of the external awarding body’s customer service team. Should you require details of any Awarding Body, these will be provided by Genesis Customer Service Co-ordinator on the number listed previously.
Contravention of this Policy
Failure to comply with any of the requirements of this policy is taken very seriously and will be managed proportionately to the breach.
Version and review history
Review Date Reason for Review
December 2024 12 month full review
December 2025 12 month full review
Dated: December 2024
Signed: J Rice
Name: Jamie Rice
Position: Director