We regard a complaint as any expression of dissatisfaction about our action or lack of action, or about the standard of service provided by us or on our behalf.

You can complain about things like:

• delays in responding to your enquiries and requests
• failure to provide a service
• our standard of service
• dissatisfaction with our policy
• treatment by or attitude of a member of staff
• our failure to follow proper procedure.

Your complaint may involve more than one of our services or be about someone working on our behalf.

There are some things we can’t deal with through our complaints procedure.

These include:

• a routine first-time request for a service, for example reporting a problem that needs to be repaired
• requests for compensation
• issues that are in court or have already been heard by a court or a tribunal
• an attempt to reopen a previously concluded complaint or to have a complaint reconsidered where we have already given our final decision following a stage 2 investigation.

If you are still not satisfied, you can ask the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman for an independent review of the complaint. If other procedures or rights of appeal can help you resolve your concerns we will give information and advice to help you.

Anyone can make a complaint to us, including the representative of someone who is dissatisfied with our service.

Please also read the section on ‘Getting help to make your complaint’.

You can complain in person at our office, by phone, in writing, email or by using our complaints form. It is easier for us to resolve complaints if you make them quickly and directly to the service concerned. So please talk to a member of our staff at the service you are complaining about. Then they can try to resolve any problems on the spot.

When complaining, tell us:

• your full name and address
• as much as you can about the complaint
• what has gone wrong
• how you want us to resolve the matter.

Normally, you must make your complaint within six months of:

• the event you want to complain about, or
• finding out that you have a reason to complain, but no longer than 12 months after the event itself.

In exceptional circumstances, we may be able to accept a complaint after the time limit. If you feel that the time limit should not apply to your complaint, please tell us why.

We will always tell you who is dealing with your complaint. Our complaints procedure has two stages:

Stage one – frontline resolution

We aim to resolve complaints quickly and close to where we provided the service. This could mean an on-the-spot apology and explanation if something has clearly gone wrong and immediate action to resolve the problem.

We will give you our decision at stage 1 in five working days or less, unless there are exceptional circumstances. If we can’t resolve your complaint at this stage, we will explain why. If you are still dissatisfied you can ask for your complaint to be investigated further through stage 2. You may choose to do this immediately or some time after you get our initial response. We can help you with making this request.

Stage two – investigation

Stage 2 deals with two types of complaint: those that have not been resolved at stage 1 and those that are complex and require detailed investigation.

When using stage 2 we will:

• acknowledge receipt of your complaint within three working days
• discuss your complaint with you to understand why you remain dissatisfied and what outcome you are looking for
• give you a full response to the complaint as soon as possible and within 20 working days.

If our investigation will take longer than 20 working days, we will tell you. We will agree revised time limits with you and keep you updated on progress.

After we have fully investigated, if you are still dissatisfied with our decision or the way we dealt with your complaint, you can ask the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) to look at it.

The SPSO cannot normally look at:

• a complaint that has not completed our complaints procedure (so please make sure it has done so before contacting the SPSO)
• events that happened, or that you became aware of, more than a year ago
• a matter that has been or is being considered in court.

You can contact the SPSO:

In Person: SPSO, 4 Melville Street, Edinburgh, EH3 7NS
By Post: SPSO, Freepost EH641, Edinburgh, EH3 0BR
Freephone: 0800 377 7330
Online contact: www.spso.org.uk/contact-us
Website: www.spso.org.uk

If your complaint relates to a care service we provide, you can choose whether to complain to us or the Care Inspectorate.

You can find out more about their complaints procedure, or make a complaint, by contacting the Care Inspectorate.

You can contact the Care Inspectorate:

Website: http://www.scswis.com/
Telephone: 0845 600 9527
Email: [email protected]

We understand that you may be unable, or reluctant, to make a complaint yourself. We accept complaints from the representative of a person who is dissatisfied with our service. We can take complaints from a friend, relative, or an advocate, if you have given them your consent to complain for you.

You can find out about advocates in your area by contacting the Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance or Citizens Advice Bureau.

Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance
Telephone: 0131 260 5380
Website: www.siaa.org.uk

Citizens Advice Scotland
Website: www.cas.org.uk

Lochaber Citizens Advice
Website: https://www.lochabercab.org.uk/