Complaints Procedure

At PSP we are committed to providing a high-quality service to everyone we deal with. In order to do this, we need you to give us any feedback about our service and to tell us when we get things wrong. We want to help you resolve your complaint as quickly as possible.

We treat as a complaint any expression of dissatisfaction with our service which calls for a response. We will listen to any complaints, treat them seriously and learn from them so that we can continuously improve our service.

A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction, whether justified or not.

Our policy covers complaints about:

• the standard of service we provide
• the behaviour of our staff
• any action or lack of action by staff affecting an individual or group

Our complaints policy does not cover:

• matters that have already been fully investigated through this complaints procedure
• anonymous complaints
• complaints about access to information where procedures and remedies are set out in legislation or the required information is available from an open source.

Persistent and or vexatious complaints

PSP is committed to dealing with all complaints fairly and impartially. Whilst contact between PSP and the complainant will not be limited, we do not expect our operational staff to tolerate unacceptable behaviour deemed abusive, threatening or offensive.

In the case of vexatious or persistent complaints, if the complainant remains dissatisfied after all stages have been properly followed, the Chief Executive Officer will inform the complainant in writing that the procedure has been exhausted and the matter is now closed.

Should an individual’s approach to their complaint become disturbing, intimidating or deemed to be harassment, legal advice may be sought. PSP has a duty of care to its employees which will be upheld.

Our standards for handling complaints

• We treat all complaints seriously, whether they are made by letter or by email
• You will be treated with courtesy and fairness at all times. Likewise, we trust that you will be courteous and fair in your dealings with our staff at all times
• We will treat your complaint in confidence
• We will deal with your complaint promptly. We will acknowledge receipt of a written complaint within 5 working days and will send a full reply within 20 working days of receipt
• If we cannot send a full reply within 20 working days of receipt we will tell you the reason why and let you know when we will be able to reply in full

Confidentiality

All complaints received will be dealt with confidentially and in accordance with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018.

How to complain

Complaints must be made in writing, either by email or post.

You can send an email to hello@publicsectorplc.com

We have a 2-stage complaints procedure. At each stage it will help us to resolve your complaint if you can give us as much detail as possible, including any documents and correspondence. You should also state that you are making a complaint in line with our procedure.

The stages of the complaints procedure

Stage 1

This is the first opportunity for us to resolve a complainant’s dissatisfaction. The majority of complaints will be resolved at this stage. In the first instance, we will try to get your complaint resolved by a Senior Manager of the team against whom the complaint has been made. Upon receipt of your complaint, we will contact the relevant Senior Manager and ask them to deal with your complaint.

Stage 2

If you are dissatisfied with this response, you may request a review by a Director. Your request should be sent to the same address as given above.

At each stage, please send your complaint or request for an issued response to be reviewed.

Timescales for handling a complaint

Stage 1 – maximum 20 working days

• acknowledgement within 5 working days
• full response within 20 working days

Stage 2 – maximum 20 working days

• acknowledgement within 5 working days
• full response within 20 working days

Extending time limits

We aim to resolve all complaints within the timescales above. However, if a complaint is very complex it may occasionally be necessary to extend the time limit. If this is the case, we will keep the complainant informed of progress with the investigation, the reasons for the delay and the new deadline.

Following any stage of the procedure, a complainant has a maximum of 28 days from the date of the final response to request that their complaint be progressed to the next stage.

If you remain dissatisfied

If having followed the 2 stages of our complaints procedure you still remain dissatisfied, you can ask to have your complaint reviewed by the Chief Executive Officer.

PSP reserves the right to refer any complaint or dispute to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Dispute Resolution Service or a similar body or service at any time.

Remedies

When we get things wrong, we will act to:

• accept responsibility
• explain what went wrong and why
• put things right by making any changes required

The action we take to put matters right in response to a complaint can include any combination of the remedies set out in the list below. The general principle we follow is that a complainant should, so far as possible, be put in the position he or she would have been in had things not gone wrong.

The remedy chosen needs to be proportionate and appropriate to the failure in service. In most instances, an apology is appropriate but other action may also be necessary:

• a meaningful apology (explaining what happened and or what went wrong). For clarity, an apology is not an acceptance of liability under Section 2 of the Compensation Act 2006.
• remedial action, which may include reviewing or changing a decision on the service given to an individual complainant
• the delivery of service desired by complainant (immediately, if appropriate)
• putting things right (for example a change of procedures to prevent future difficulties of a similar kind, either for the complainant or others)
• training or closer supervision of staff

Comments

Delivering a quality service is important to PSP. Learning from complaints is a good way of helping to improve and develop the way that we work. As well as learning from your complaints, we are also interested in and welcome other ideas you may have on how we might do things better.

You can make your comments by emailing or writing to us. We will use your comments to help improve our service and the way we do things.