Complaints Procedure

Tempdent is committed to ensuring that concerns from people using our services are acknowledged, responded to, and that we learn from them.

This policy document sets out our approach to receiving and responding to complaints from our external stakeholders – our learners and their employers, and parents/guardians.

We aim to resolve complaints quickly, fairly, and effectively, and seek to:

• Treat a complaint as a clear expression of dissatisfaction with our service, which calls for an immediate response
• Handle complaints promptly and, when appropriate, confidential
• Investigate all complaints in accordance with the agreed process, and in all cases, make strong and appropriate efforts to resolve any complaint to the complainant’s satisfaction
• Put things right quickly for our customers when they go wrong
• Keep our customers informed of the progress of their complaint and the results of any subsequent investigation
• Learn from each complaint to improve future performance
• Set performance targets for responding to complaints and monitor our performance against these targets
• Advise our customers of their right to complain to an appropriate regulator or agency – such as the Education and Skills Funding Agency – if they remain dissatisfied after their complaint has been through all stages of our complaint procedure

Stage 1 Informal

We recommend that complaints are dealt with informally wherever possible, so in the first instance, please try to resolve any issues directly with the staff member concerned or another relevant staff member, for example Tutor Assessor or the Operations Manager, with contact details you may already hold. If no contact details are held, please email support@tempdent.co.uk.

If the staff member is unable to resolve the complaint, or it does not specifically relate to a particular person, your complaint should be raised with the relevant head of department, who will investigate and respond to you directly. Please email support@tempdent.co.uk and they will pass on your complaint to the appropriate person.

A complaint must be escalated immediately to stage 2, where any part of it relates to:

• Equality & Diversity
• Safeguarding
• Health & Safety
• Prevent Duty
• Radicalisation

Stage 2 Formal

Complaints can only be escalated to Stage 2 if they cannot be resolved at Stage 1.

Formal complaints should be submitted in writing by emailing support@tempdent.co.uk. To help the process, please include your name, contact details, the facts supporting the complaint, and reasons for escalation to stage 2.

If a complaint is raised by a Learner and/or Employer:

• If the complaint is related to a learner, the main advisor, usually the Tutor Assessor, assigned to the learner, must be informed.
• If the complaint is regarding the main advisor, the Operations manager needs to be notified
• If the complaint is deemed as a Child or Vulnerable Adult Safeguarding issue, the Safeguarding & Welfare Manager must be advised as early as possible.
• Where notification of the complaint is verbal, it must be followed with a written account provided either by the complainant or noted by the receiver. The main advisor will make a written account of the complaint, request a written account from the complainant (should the scenario require it), investigate, and establish the facts ready for agreement as to the most appropriate outcome.
• The complainant will receive a formal acknowledgement of their complaint within one working day of receipt, with a full resolution aimed to be sorted within 10 working days.
• All formal/written complaints will be recorded in staff personnel files and held in confidence by the People Team.

If a complaint is raised by a Learner and/or Parent/Guardian:

• If the complaint is regarding an employer, the Operations manager responsible must be notified, who will make a written account of the complaint, request a written account from the complainant (should the scenario require it), investigate and establish the facts ready for agreement as to the most appropriate outcome.
• If the complaint is deemed as a Child or Vulnerable Adult Safeguarding issue, the Safeguarding & Welfare Manager must be contacted.
• Where notification of the complaint is verbal, it must be followed with a written account provided either by the complainant or noted by the receiver. The main advisor will make a written account of the complaint, request a written account from the complainant (should the scenario require it), investigate and establish the facts ready for agreement as to the most appropriate outcome.
• The complainant will receive a formal acknowledgement of their complaint within one working day of receipt.
• All formal/written complaints will be recorded in the employer’s file and held in confidence.