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Complaints procedure - Inspiring Scotland

Complaints procedure

Inspiring Scotland is committed to providing a high standard of quality service to stakeholders, other agencies and organisations we work with.

When our services are not as good as they should be, we want to know about it and encourage you to get in touch.

We will take seriously any concern or complaint and will investigate it promptly, for resolution as quickly as possible.

Definition of a complaint

 A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction, whether justified or not. Our policy covers complaints about:

  • the standard of service you should expect from us.
  • the behaviour of our staff in delivering our work.
  • any action, or lack of action, by our staff, contractors or other associates engaged in our day to day operations.

Our complaints policy does not cover:

  • comments about our policies or policy decisions.
  • dissatisfaction or complaints expressed with our policies or decisions about funding awards.
  • complaints about funding decisions made by third parties where we are the delivery partner.

Handling your complaint

  • We can receive complaints by letter, email, or via the contact us section on our website. We can not receive complaints in person or over the phone, unless you have a disability which prevents you putting it in writing. In such cases, you may ask a staff member to write it for you.
  • You can expect to be treated with courtesy, respect and fairness at all times. We expect that you will also treat our staff dealing with your complaint with the same courtesy, respect and fairness.
  • We will treat your complaint in confidence.
  • We will deal with your service complaint promptly. We will acknowledge receipt of a written complaint within five working days where we have a return address and you can expect to have a full reply within 20 working days.

We will not treat you less favourably than anyone else because of your:

  •  sex or legal marital or same-sex partnership status: this includes family status, responsibility for dependants, and gender (including gender reassignment, whether proposed, commenced or completed)
  • sexual orientation
  • colour or race: this includes ethnic or national origin or nationality
  • disability
  • religious or political beliefs, or trade union affiliation
  • any other unjustifiable factors, for example language difficulties, age, pregnancy and maternity.

Confidentiality

All complaints received will be dealt with confidentially and in accordance with the requirements of the 2018 GDPR regulations. If we need to share any aspect of your complaint with another party, we will first seek your permission to do so.

Complaints process 

  1. Write to us or email us using the details at the end of this policy.
  2. We will acknowledge receipt within 5 working days.
  3. Your complaint will be assigned to a member of our Senior Leadership Team.
  4. A response will be sent to you, using the same method you contacted us, within 20 working days.
  5. If you are happy with the outcome, the complaint will be closed. If not, you can request that your complaint is assigned to our Chief Executive.
  6. We will then acknowledge receipt of the escalated complaint within 2 working days and commit to respond within 10 working days.
  7. If you are happy with the outcome at this stage, we will close your complaint. If you are still unhappy with the outcome, you might want to consider contacting the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR). Contact details are provided below.

Contact details for making a complaint 

Inspiring Scotland 
Suite 2, 14 New Mart Road
Edinburgh
EH14 1RL
enquiries@inspiringscotland.org.uk

Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator 
01382 220 446
info@oscr.org.uk