Our Responsibilities
Rinova Ltd are committed to providing a high-quality service for our learners, clients and the community we serve. We will deal with legitimate complaints in a fair, prompt and objective manner. Complaints will be dealt with without recrimination and learners will not be disadvantaged by raising a complaint.
We will be fair in the treatment of all those who complain irrespective of age, gender, ethnicity and disability. Complaints will be dealt with promptly and constructively. All complaints will be dealt with in confidence but shared with any person who may be the subject of a complaint. The outcomes of any complaint will be shared with the complainant and any staff involved. Complaints made which, on investigation, turn out to be malicious, may result in disciplinary action.
The Head of Centre will be responsible for the management of the Complaints Policy and all learners will be informed whom the Head of Centre is.
Scope of Complaints Procedure
The Procedure deals with complaints arising from:
- Delivery (or lack of delivery) of services for education and training including teaching, course content, tutoring, assessment, feedback on progress and learner support during learning programmes
- Incorrect or misleading information about services provided by Rinova’s delivery (or lack of delivery) of support services provided by Rinova including administration of fees, enrolment processes, health and safety and learner resource services
- Unacceptable actions or behaviour by staff and/or other learners
How to complain
Complaints must be made in writing to the course leader. Support can be made available for all those involved in a complaint including:
- Representation: parent, guardian, friend, or supporter
- Help with completing the written complaint
- Induction will provide further details regarding this process.
Informal resolution of complaints
Most complaints should be able to be resolved by discussion between the complainant and the appropriate member of staff. The initial complaint may be made orally or in writing. The receipt of the complaint should be acknowledged within 48 hours and the member of staff receiving the complaint should make a response within 7 working days, orally or in writing. It is expected that staff are tactful and courteous in dealing with a complaint. If the complainant is dissatisfied with the response received, they should then be guided to using the formal procedure.
If direct communication does not resolve the issue, a neutral third party, like a mediator, can help facilitate a conversation between the parties involved.
Formal procedure
A formal complaint should be made in writing within 5 working days of an incident or action from which the complaint arises, or from the date when the complainant received an oral or written reply to an informal complaint (see above). In exceptional circumstances, a longer period will be considered. The complaint should be sent to the course leader in the first instance. If the complaint involves the assessor, the Internal Quality Assurer will be appointed to manage the process. The complaint will be logged and its receipt will be acknowledged to the complainant within 48 hours with a response being made within 7 working days.
The Course leader will carry out an investigation of the complaint and may interview the complainant; the respondent; witnesses to the matter or events; and anyone they believe may have a role in establishing or disproving the complaint, as necessary.
The centre manager will record the outcome of the complaint and either arranges a meeting to deliver the outcome or notify all those involved in writing as appropriate within 7 working days of the complaint. All outcomes will be confirmed in writing to all those involved.
If the complaint involves a learner, they will be offered support at the meeting. All learners will be encouraged to bring a supporter to the interview. Vulnerable adults and those under 16 years of age must have the support of their care worker, or a person of their choice, who can act as their advocate and the centre manager must be informed.
The formal complaint should be resolved within 10 working days of the receipt of the original formal complaint. If it appears that a decision will not be reached within the due period, those involved will be advised of the need for a longer period.
The decision made will be final, but this does not affect an individual’s legal rights. If the learner is unsatisfied with the final outcome they can escalate their complaint to the GLA at Skillscomplaints@london.gov.uk . Please note that the GLA will only investigate once a complaint has exhausted the provider’s own complaints process. The GLA’s role will be to determine whether the provider has followed their own policy when handling the complaint.
The GLA complaints policy for learners can be found here: https://www.london.gov.uk/programmes-strategies/jobs-and-skills/training-providers-teaching-skills/adult-education-budget/guidance-learner-complaints
Review of the Complaints Policy and Practice
Annually, the centre manager will review the Complaints Policy and Practice to include:
- Number of complaints of each type
- Time taken to process complaints
- List of outstanding complaints
- Outcomes to complaints
- Results of appeals
- Analysis of complaints and outcomes by age, gender and ethnicity of complainant.
If changes are required, the Complaints Policy will be reviewed, and all staff and learners will be informed.
A record of all complaints for 3 years will be available to the relevant authorities for audit purposes.
