1. Policy
1.1 Brooks and Kirk is committed to providing a high quality service for all its students, employers and clients. This policy sets out the process for all learners, apprentices and employers to make a complaint about the service provided by Brooks and Kirk. This could include, but is not limited to; breach of other policies, disagreements regarding financial matters or not meeting desired expectations. This policy is intended to welcome and to try to satisfy complaints and to use the information to improve the services it offers.
1.2 Brooks and Kirk will deal with legitimate complaints in a fair, prompt and objective manner.
1.3 Complaints will be handled without recrimination and the complainant, whether a learner or employer will not be disadvantaged by raising a complaint.
1.4 Anonymous complaints will not be accepted.
1.5 All information will be kept in strict confidence and shared only on a need-to-know basis. Brooks and Kirk staff are expected to respond positively to complaints and to alert the complainant to the Complaints Procedure.
1.6 Brooks and Kirk will be fair in its treatment of all those who complain irrespective of all protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2019.
1.7 Complaints will be dealt with promptly and constructively. 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 or other further action.
2. Procedure
2.1 Informal Complaint – Where possible, the complainer should speak directly to those involved and try to resolve the matter first hand. For apprentices, they may wish to raise a complaint through their workplace line manager. The aim is to resolve the problem directly and informally at the earliest opportunity. It is anticipated that complaints will usually be resolved in this manner. If this is not possible or the claimant remains dissatisfied then they should proceed to step 2.2.
2.2 Formal Complaint – The complainant should complete and return a `Notification of Complaint’ form (Appendix A) to the Quality Manager at Brooks and Kirk Assessor Training. The form can be downloaded at the bottom of this page.
2.3 Receipt of the complaint will be acknowledged within 3 working days.
2.4 The complaint will be reviewed by the Quality Manager. They will decide whether the nature of the complaint impacts on the quality standards of delivery or if it relates to other areas of the business which does not affect teaching and learning, the apprenticeship or the assessment process.
2.5 The Quality Manager will investigate the complaint accordingly. Those involved in the complaint will have the right to attend any scheduled meetings to express their views in person.
2.6 The complainant will receive a written response within ten days, setting out the result of the investigation and the action that will be taken. If the investigation is likely to exceed ten days, the candidate will be contacted and told when we expect a response will be available.
2.7 Escalation – If the complainant feels the complaint has not been satisfactorily resolved by the Quality Manager the complainant should refer their complaint to the appropriate external body. Contact details will be supplied directly to the complainant when all other avenues of the complaint have been exhausted.