Catholic Voices Complaints Policy & Procedure

Introduction

Our policy is:

 To provide a fair complaints procedure which is clear and easy to use;

 To make the procedure available on our website;

 To make sure everyone involved in Catholic Voices knows what to do if they receive a complaint;

 To make sure all complaints are investigated fairly and in a timely manner;

 To make sure that complaints are, wherever possible, resolved and that relationships are repaired; and

 To gather information which helps us improve what we do.

What does the Complaints Policy apply to?

This Complaints Policy applies to any complaint which a person wants to make to Catholic

Voices in relation to our activity. This includes complaints about a particular individual acting as a representative of Catholic Voices or about the activity of Catholic Voices itself. A complaint may be made by any person or organisation with a legitimate interest.

How to make a complaint

1 Send an email to admin@catholicvoices.org.uk stating:

 That you wish to make a complaint;

 Your name and contact details;

 The name of the person about whom you want to make a complaint or if the complaint

is about the organisation itself;

 A explanation of the matter complained about; and

 How best to contact you if we need to ask for more details.

Alternatively you can send a written complaint to the charity registered address: 77 Thenford Way, Banbury, OX16 2DS but this is likely to slow down the procedure.

2 Please attach or refer to any evidence that we will require in order to examine your complaint.

3 If there are serious reasons why you wish your name to remain anonymous (i.e. you do not want your name to be communicated to all the trustees) please state your reasons.

Process and what you can expect

1 The Catholic Voices administrative assistant will acknowledge your email as soon as possible.

2 The administrative assistant will record the complaint in a complaints log and communicate it to the Chief Executive and the Chairman who will take a joint decision on what action to take.

This may be to uphold the complaint (in simple cases), to investigate it further, or that it will not be pursued (for example because it does not relate to someone representing Catholic Voices).

The decision and reasons for it will be documented in the log. We will endeavour to communicate the decision to you within 2 weeks of acknowledgement of the complaint.

3 Where the decision is to investigate the complaint further, the Chief Executive and the

Chairman will endeavour to estimate how long it will take to complete the investigation and communicate this to you.

4 Where the complaint is about an individual, they will also be informed about the complaint and the complainant.

5 Where further investigation is required, the Chairman and the Chief Executive will appoint 2 of the trustees to do this. Where the complaint is about the conduct of an individual this will include asking the individual for an explanation.

6 The investigating trustees will document their findings and present them to the board of trustees (this may be at a board meeting, a special meeting, or by telephone/email depending upon timing and the nature of the allegations). The trustees will agree by majority vote on what action to take and the decision will be recorded.

7 The trustees’ decision will be communicated to you by the Chief Executive through admin@catholicvoices.org.uk or by letter if you do not have access to email.

8 As the complaint will have been reviewed by the Board of Trustees there is no process for appealing the decision. However if you are dissatisfied with the outcome you can refer the complaint to the Charity Commission at any stage. Information can be found at www.charitycommission.gov.uk/publications/cc47.aspx

9 We will endeavour to complete the entire process within three months.

10. For the avoidance of doubt, if the complaint is about a trustee, that person will not be involved in the decision process and if the complaint is about either the Chairman or Chief Executive, one of the other trustees will be delegate to replace them in the process.