West Lancashire College

Complaints Procedure 2015 - 16

Date approved: 2nd February 2016 Review Date: 1st February 2017 Approved by: CMT Quality Responsible: Director of Quality and Support

Introduction

NCG has a complaints policy which is delivered via Divisional complaints procedures. These procedures are developed within the Divisions to meet the needs of their business.

West Lancashire College has a staged complaints procedure through which we aim to resolve concerns as quickly as possible. Stage 1 of the procedure differs slightly for students, employers or for complaints of a general nature.

Employees or former employees should use the College’s Grievance Policy and Procedure.

Details of the four stages of the complaints procedure are outlined below:

Timescales

In order to help us to investigate and resolve any area of dissatisfaction you should notify us of your concern at Stage 1 as soon as possible and no later than 2 weeks after its occurrence.

Complaints made at Stage 2 must be made within 2 weeks of exhausting Stage 1 of the complaints procedure and complaints made at Stage 3 must be made within 2 weeks of exhausting Stage 2 of the complaints procedure. Stage 4 is an appeal against the decision made at Stage 3, the appeal must be made within 2 weeks of exhausting Stage 3.

Stage 1

Students

Rather than let an issue of concern or an area of dissatisfaction become a complaint, we hope that you will try to resolve your issue by:-

 raising your concerns directly with the person who, in your opinion, is responsible, or directly with your lecturer/tutor/a member of the Student

1 Services Team, or directly with the course leader or manager for your course, or

 using the College’s learner surveys to bring concerns to the attention of course teams and/or college managers, or

 using your Course Representative to take forward any concerns

You may wish to take advice and support from Student Services during the Complaints process.

Employers

If you are dissatisfied or have any concerns with the service provided by the college you can raise the issue:

 directly with the Workplace Assessor or Manager for the area  using an Employer Forum or employer survey to bring concerns to the attention of college managers

General

If you are a member of the public, parent, ex-student or general user of the college and you are dissatisfied or have concerns about the service provided you should in the first instance:

 raise the issue directly with the person who, in your opinion, is responsible,

 raise the issue with the supervisor or manager for the area or service concerned

If you are unsure who to contact each department and service area has a Head or Manager to whom you can speak or write. They will help to deal with your concern.

These are:

Head of Department Department Telephone No Collette Collins Study Programmes 01695 52327 Daniel Gorman Adult Learning 01695 52382 Jane Hines Marketing and Student Services 01695 52316 Asa Gordon Operations Manager West Mobile: Lancashire College 07738988834 (Apprenticeship Provision) Tom Garside Estates and Facilities Manager 01695 52483 Tracey Foxen Human Resources Manager for 01695 52466 details of the Grievance Procedure (Employees and ex employees)

2 In all cases, our aim is to deal satisfactorily with concerns at Stage 1 of the procedure. If your concern is not satisfactorily resolved at Stage 1, you have the opportunity to move to Stage 2.

Employees or Former Employees

If you are an employee or former employee of the College, the Grievance Policy and Procedure should be followed. Further details and advice on this can be obtained from the Human Resources Manager.

Stage 2

If your concern is not resolved at Stage 1 or you feel the issue has not been responded to satisfactorily, you can take your complaint to Stage 2 of the college procedure. Please outline your concerns in writing as clearly and in as much detail as you can. Include details relating to Stage 1 of the process and why you are not satisfied with the response. You will receive a response within ten working days and we will tell you how we plan to investigate and when you might expect a detailed answer.

Quality Manager Address Telephone No Maria Rayworth West Lancashire College, 01695 52478 Skelmersdale Campus,College Way,Skelmersdale,West Lancashire WN8 6DX

If you have progressed your complaint through Stage 2 and it has not been satisfactorily resolved you can take it to Stage 3 of the college procedure.

Stage 3

If you are dissatisfied with the response to your Stage 2 complaint, you have the right to escalate your complaint to Stage 3. You should put your complaint in writing, detail the reasons for your dissatisfaction, what you have done to try to remedy the complaint informally and what you would like us to do next. Any complaint against an individual will be dealt with in a confidential manner. Stage 3 complaints should be sent to the Director of Quality and Support, West Lancashire College, Skelmersdale Campus, College Way, Skelmersdale, WN8 6DX. You will receive a response within ten working days and we will tell you how we plan to investigate and when you might expect a detailed answer.

Stage 4

If your concern is not resolved at Stage 3 and you are still not happy you can appeal to the Principal. Before you can do this, you must have exhausted all three stages of the College’s complaints procedure. If your concern reaches

3 this stage, we will give you full information on how to proceed. Stage 4 complaints should be sent to The Principal, West Lancashire College, Skelmersdale Campus, College Way, Skelmersdale, WN8 6DX.

Finally, complaints received by an external funding body or arbitration service must be referred to the Group Chief Executive for investigation (e.g. EFA, SFA, DWP etc.). In the first instance contact the Director of Quality and Support, West Lancashire College, Skelmersdale Campus, College Way, Skelmersdale, West Lancashire WN8 6DX