Page 6 - Complaints Policy & Procedures Sep20

o A ‘concern’ may be defined as ‘an expression of worry or doubt over an issue considered to be important for which reassurances are sought’.
o A complaint may be generally defined as ‘an expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about actions taken or a lack of action’.
Who can complain?
Anyone can make a complaint about any facilities or services that the Trust or an academy provides, unless separate statutory procedures apply (see complaints out of scope), this includes:
 parents or carers of children currently at the school
 parents or carers of children no longer at the school
 members of the public
 a third party acting on behalf of the complainant. In these cases written consent will be
required from the complainant before any information is disclosed.
Anonymous complaints will not normally be investigated. It will be for the Headteacher to determine as appropriate whether the complaint warrants an investigation.
Timescales
The Trust expects that complaints will be made as soon as possible after an incident arises and no later than three months afterwards. If the complaint is about a series of related incidents, they must raise the complaint within 3 months of the last incident. We will consider complaints raised outside this time frame if exceptional circumstances apply and the complaint can still be investigated in a fair manner for all involved.
We will consider complaints made outside of term time to have been received on the first school day after the holiday period.
If at any point we cannot meet the timescales we have set out in this policy, we will:
 set new time limits with the complainant
 send the complainant details of the new deadline and explain the delay.
Duplicate Complaints
After closing a complaint at the end of the complaints procedure if a duplicate complaint is received about the same matter from a connected party, the duplicate complainant will be informed the school has already considered the complaint and the local process is now complete. The new complainant will be advised to contact the ESFA if there is dissatisfaction with the original handling of the complaint.
Consistency of Treatment and Fairness
The relevant body is committed to ensuring consistency of treatment and fairness and will abide by all relevant employment and equality legislation.
Delegation
The relevant body has chosen to delegate some of its functions to local governing bodies as set out in this procedure.
DCAT Complaints Policy and Procedures
September 2020 Page 2 of 18