INTRODUCTION
Montserrat Patrons Society is committed to providing a high quality service for all of our donors, grant-seekers and other stakeholders. A complaint may come from any source. This policy does not cover staff grievances but is intended to cover complaints from external sources regarding any service provided by or on behalf of Montserrat Patrons Society.
A complaint may be received in writing, by email, in person or telephone. All complaints will be treated seriously and the complainant offered prompt and courteous attention. We can learn from complaints and use them to improve our service.
DEFINITION OF A COMPLAINT
A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction about services received from Montserrat Patrons Society.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT & INITIAL INVESTIGATION
The Board of Trustees will acknowledge a complaint within 5 working days requesting further information or clarification on the points made where it is appropriate. The Manager of the service concerned should carry out the initial investigation and keep the Board of Trustees informed. The aim will be to achieve resolution at this stage.
The complainant should have a response within 10 working days from the receipt of the complaint as to the outcome of the investigation together with an apology if appropriate and details of any remedial action to be taken.
The complainant should be contacted as soon as practicable if the recommended timescale for a response cannot be met due to staff absence or any other unavoidable reason.
A record of this stage of the complaint investigation including correspondence and research notes will be kept.
SECOND & FINAL STAGE INVESTIGATION
If the complainant is not satisfied with the outcome at the first stage the complaint must be referred directly to the Chair of the Board of Trustees.
The Chair will review the complaint in consultation with appropriate staff and Trustees. S/he will check that the fundamental point of the complaint has been addressed and will respond to any outstanding issues raised by the complainant. Where the Board of Trustees considers it appropriate to do, an investigation will be carried out by the Chair together with two nominated Trustees. From time to time it may be necessary to obtain further information from a third party.
The Chair, supported by two Trustees will arrive at a decision within 15 working days of receiving the complainant's response to stage one and this decision will be final. The Chair will notify the complainant of their conclusions in a written response, provide assurance that the complaint has been fully investigated, an apology if required, information about remedial actions and a clear explanation of the reasons for reaching the decision.
A record of this stage of the complaint, the correspondence and action taken should also be kept.
