Complaints Policy

ALM seeks to provide its clients with the best possible service across the whole range of our activities and in doing so it is our policy to:

• respond swiftly to any complaints and within realistic timescales dependent on nature of the complaint
• ensure that the procedure operates without fear of recrimination or retribution against the complainant
• use feedback received about services or facilities to continually improve our service
• monitor the types and numbers of complaints we receive to identify any trends and/or problem areas and put actions in place to stop these happening again

It is our policy that the complaints procedure:

• is accessible and publicised
• is simple to understand and use
• ensures a full and fair investigation without recrimination;
• provides information to management so that services can continually be improved.
• encourages reconciliation;
• respects people’s desire for confidentiality;
• addresses all the points at issue and provides an effective response and appropriate redress;

Complaints Procedure

1. What is a complaint?

1.1         A complaint arises when someone feels that an aspect of our service to them is unsatisfactory and should be investigated therefore it is not solely for use by clients but can be accessed by anyone.

1.2         It is expected that many concerns can be resolved at the point at which they arise by the person directly concerned, overcoming the need to formally record a matter of complaint.

1.3         This complaints procedure is not intended for appeals against the decision of an Independent Assessment Authority, or for matters related to unacceptable social behaviour by a member of staff or associate.

Any complaint with regard to assessment practice must be made through the appeals procedure as laid out by the awarding organisation.

2. What is the procedure?

2.1         Initially the client or complainant should try to resolve the issue directly with the relevant member of staff.

2.2         Should the complainant feel that the matter has not been satisfactorily resolved then they can speak to any member of staff to raise an official complaint.  The member of staff concerned will become the complaint handler and will complete the front page of the complaint form.  They will request full details in writing from the complainant which will be attached to the form and then passed to a director.

2.3         The Director will assign a reference number to the complaint and initiate an investigation involving relevant personnel. During this investigation period the Director or other member of staff may communicate further with the complainant.

2.4         Once the full investigation has been carried out resolution actions will be discussed with the complainant and when agreed these will be implemented.

2.5         Dependent upon the nature of the complaint it may be necessary to design and then implement preventative measures to ensure further complaints of the same nature are not received.

2.6         Once all parties are satisfied and preventative measures (if required) are implemented the director will close the complaint

2.7         The complaint and all accompanying documentation is filed in the Complaints folder

2.8       If the client is unhappy with the outcome and it is a funded course or apprenticeship then they can complain to the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) about how the complaint was handled.  They must contact the ESFA within 3 months of getting a decision from ALM Training Services Ltd and can email or post the complaint to the ESFA complaints team: