At Depaul International, upholding our values and high standards of conduct is integral to our work. We recognise that sometimes our standards and commitments might not be upheld to the standard we expect. If this is the case, we want to be informed.
We recognise and value your feedback and believe that this can help us to improve how we deliver our services to you.
Below is our complaints procedure. There are several ways to make a complaint to Depaul International:
Any formal complaint received must be dealt with at Stage 1 in the first instance.
All complaints will be assigned to an investigating officer, who may be any employee of Depaul International.
They will listen to the complainants concerns; offer support and investigate their feedback.
On receiving a formal complaint, we will:
Acknowledge receipt of the complaint in writing within 3 working days and provide the contact details of the investigating officer and the case reference number.
Contact the complainant to confirm our understanding of the complaint and to find out what resolution they are seeking.
Provide a full response in writing to the complainant within 10 working days of the complaint being acknowledged. We may agree an alternative timescale with you in exceptional circumstances, but this will not exceed 20 working days in total. We will agree with you suitable intervals to keep you informed. Where agreement over an extended timescale cannot be reached, we will provide the details of a Regulator or external body where appropriate so the complainant can challenge our proposed plan for responding and/or the proposed timeliness of our response.
We recognise that complaints can be resolved in several different ways. When responding to complaints we will offer a solution that takes into consideration any organisational failure and the overall circumstances of the complaint.
Examples of solutions we may offer are:
If a complainant is not satisfied with our response at Stage 1, they should contact us within 20 working days to ask us to escalate to Stage 2. If we do not hear from the complainant then we will close the complaint case.
Requests to escalate a complaint should explain why they are dissatisfied and what they consider has not been resolved. We will ask complainants to tell us what they expect from the resolution.
If all or part of the complaint is not resolved to the complainants satisfaction at stage 1, it must be escalated to Stage 2.
Our Stage 2 process is an internal review. The review will check that the decisions at Stage 1 were fair, reasonable and in accordance with our policies. It is unlikely that we will change the judgement in decision making where the decision was reasonable at Stage 1.
Sometimes it might not be appropriate to escalate a complaint to Stage 2. We will always set out why we think the complaint response is final and if signpost complainants where escalation is available through Regulators and external bodies.
Stage 2 complaints will be assigned to a member of the Senior Leadership Team or the Group CEO, who will listen to the complainants concerns; offer them support and investigate the matter raised by them. This will not be the same person that considered the complaint at stage 1.
On receiving a stage 2 complaint, we will:
Acknowledge receipt of the complaint in writing within 5 working days of the request to escalate and provide the contact details of the investigating officer and the case reference number.
Contact the complainant to confirm our understanding of the complaint and to further discuss what resolution they are seeking.
We will provide a full response within 20 working days of the complaint being acknowledged. We may agree an alternative timescale with complainants in exceptional circumstances, but this will not exceed 40 working days in total. We will agree with you suitable intervals to keep you informed. Where agreement over an extended timescale cannot be reached, we will provide the details of a Regulator or external body where appropriate so the complainant can challenge our proposed plan for responding and/or the proposed timeliness of our response.
Before we issue our final response, we will share the proposed outcome in relation to the Internal Review and give the complainant an opportunity to respond to the findings before formally issuing our response. We will always aim to reduce our response times.
After Stage 2 there is no further internal process and we will close the complaint case.
Depaul International staff should be open, transparent and supportive in advising complainants of their right to escalate their complaint further or access support by assisting complainants to identify where to go in order to progress their complaint externally.
This may include providing information or access to information, such as the use of a computer, signposting to the nearest library, ICT facilities or an external agency, or helping the complainant to identify a suitable advocate.
Donor or supporter complaints may be referred to the Fundraising Regulator https://www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk/complaints
Personal data use complaints may be referred to the Information Commissioner’s Office https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/
General consumer advice is available from Citizens Advice https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/
Individuals may also contact our UK Regulator, The Charity Commission, following the procedures on their website www.gov.uk/complain-about-charity
If a complainant prefers a situation to be managed informally, we will take a flexible approach wherever possible. We also encourage stakeholders to discuss concerns with a member of staff before making a formal complaint. At this point we will look into the matters that are being raised and try to resolve them before starting the formal process. We want the opportunity to put things right as soon as possible.
In these scenarios we will make a professional judgement based on the information shared and, as far as possible, with the involvement of the person sharing the information. Any type of feedback that suggests a serious breach of our code of conduct by our staff or a safeguarding concern, would have to be fully investigated, respecting confidentiality and the safety of any individuals concerned.
For our full complaints policy, please see here.