Concerns and complaints
This policy sets out how we will respond to concerns or complaints about a Big Local area or Local Trust.
If your concerns relate to the safety and welfare of a child or vulnerable adult, please see our safeguarding guidance.
Concerns and complaints about a Big Local area
Concerns or complaints about delivery in a Big Local area may include disagreement with a decision taken locally, differences of opinion or relationship breakdown, or allegations of failure to adhere to a local code of conduct, terms of reference or other local policies.
Local Trust believes that local action leads to better and more lasting positive solutions. Therefore, our approach is to seek and support a resolution at a local level, wherever possible. If you raise a concern or a complaint with us about local delivery, we will direct you to raise the matter with the appropriate local stakeholder, which will usually be either:
- The Locally Trusted Organisation (LTO) – Under its terms and conditions of grant with Local Trust, the LTO is responsible for the local financial management of an area’s Big Local funds, including any sub-contracting arrangements or funding released to third parties. Each LTO should have and follow their own policies, processes and procedures for delivering Big Local, including responding to complaints.
- The Big Local partnership – we expect Big Local partnerships to have their own policies to manage complaints, such as a Terms of Reference or Code of Conduct. We provide guidance to support Big Local partnerships to think about how to respond to external concerns and complaints.
When contacting us about a concern or complaint about an issue in a Big Local area, please email programmes@localtrust.org.uk and include:
- Your name and preferred contact details
- The name of the Big Local area you are raising a concern or complaint about
- Details of the concern/complaint, including any supporting information or evidence.
- A statement confirming you give Local Trust consent to share your information with the relevant stakeholder(s). If you do not give your permission, Local Trust will not take any action, except where we identify a potential safeguarding or fraud issue.
Concerns and complaints about Local Trust including staff, trustees or contractors
If you have a complaint about Local Trust, our staff or those we have directly contracted to work with us (such as an area advisor or support partner) please submit it in writing to programmes@localtrust.org.uk with the following information:
- Your name and preferred contact details
- Details of the concern/complaint, including any supporting information or evidence.
- A statement confirming you give Local Trust consent to share your information with any relevant stakeholder(s). If you do not give your permission, Local Trust will not take any action, except where we identify a potential safeguarding or fraud issue.
We aim to acknowledge receipt of your complaint within five working days.
A member of Local Trust’s senior management team will undertake a review your complaint. This will include gathering contextual information to better understand the concern or complaint, and may involve speaking with you, and others involved in the situation or named in the complaint. We aim to complete our review within 20 working days. This timeframe may vary depending on the complexity of the issues raised. If we require more time to complete our review we will let you know.
Once we have carried out our review, we will communicate the outcome including, where appropriate any actions to be taken by Local Trust or others, our decision is final.
There is no right of appeal against the outcome of a complaint. However, if a complainant believes Local Trust has not followed its policy for dealing with complaints or concerns, it may raise this issue for consideration. This must be received within ten working days of receiving Local Trust’s response, and not prior to the complaint process being concluded.
Local Trust’s Protector may be asked to review the handing of the complaint and express a view on whether Local Trust has dealt with the matters in an appropriate manner, and in accordance with our processes. Local Trust’s Protector has a duty to ensure the integrity of the administration of the Big Local Trust and the propriety of its procedures and, if necessary, report matters of serious concern to the National Lottery Community Fund and/or the Charity Commission.
When we won’t act
In most instances complaints are made in good faith and reflect a real concern on the part of the individual(s) making them. If it becomes clear a complaint is not made in good faith (a vexatious complaint) it will be marked ‘not for action’. A vexatious complaint may include (but is not limited to):
- a complaint without substance
- a complaint which has already been reviewed and concluded
- repeat or persistent complaints from the same individual(s)
- refusal to accept or co-operate with the complaints review process
- refusal to accept that issues are not within the remit of the complaints policy and procedures
- refusal to accept that issues are not within the power of Local Trust to investigate, change or influence
- insistence on the complaint being dealt with in ways which are incompatible with the complaint’s procedure
- an unreasonable number of contacts with Local Trust
- persistent and unreasonable demands or expectation of staff and/or the complaints process
- harassment, verbal abuse or intimidation of staff dealing with the complaint
- raising subsidiary, new or irrelevant issues whilst a complaint is being addressed that were not part of the complaint at the start of the complaint process
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