Stoke and Newcastle Group Complaints Procedure V1 - approved 27th July 2023

Refer to Rambles Complaints Procedure as that takes precedence over this procedure if there is any ambiguity. This Complaints Procedure will be used and then reviewed by the Committee after a complaint has been processed.

Level 3

Any Level 3 Complaint must immediately be passed to the Police or Ramblers Central Office or both as described in the Ramblers Complaints Procedure.

Level 1 and 2

This procedure is to cover a Level 1 or 2 complaint.

We should endeavour to solve these complaints locally i.e. within our Group.

Only if they are too complex or we can not get agreement from all parties should we ask for Area or Central Office involvement, however, the Supported Care Team should be kept informed. If either party to the Complaint has resigned their membership of the Ramblers, the Complaints Procedure should then cease and no further action taken but any information obtained should be kept (see below).

Complaint:

This can be verbal or in writing or via email or other electronic means.

This Complaint should be sent or described to a Committee Member who will involve one of the Executive Committee members i.e. Chair, Secretary or Treasurer (as long as the one contacted is not involved in the Complaint). If the Complaint involves all Executive Committee members then the Complaint should be send or described to the Area Chair or Secretary.
First ask if this can be sorted out without a formal procedure taking place. No pressure should be exerted either way on the complainant and the person(s) complained about must be open to solving the issue without rancour!
If the Complaint needs to be formalised it is best to request that the Complaint is in writing to ensure we have a documentary trail such as email.
The Complaint should have sufficient information to allow an investigation to proceed, for instance, what happened, to whom, where, when, context and any response. It should if possible include witnesses.

After receiving the Complaint:

The Executive Committee member (‘Owner’ of the Complaint) must immediately assess the severity of the Complaint (within two days of receipt) and contact the originator to discuss what happened and assess their responses to questions needed for any investigation.
The ‘Owner’ should assess if another Committee member should also be involved to allow for a second opinion on how to proceed.
All conversations should be written and recorded if possible ‘verbatim’ to ensure a comprehensive record is kept.

Obtaining Information:

If the Complainant wants to follow a formal procedure the Owner will arrange a meeting with the complainant to fully establish the area of concern. At the meeting the complainant can be accompanied by a companion if they wish. The Owner will be accompanied by a note taker who will take notes of the meeting for distribution and agreement after the discussion.
At the meeting the complainant will be asked how they would like the matter resolved.
Contact any witnesses and obtain corroboration of Complaint and any different interpretations of events as well as the opinion of the party(ies) complained about. This should be done as soon as possible to ensure peoples’ memories are fresh.
All parties involved in the investigation will be asked to keep any discussions confidential.

Assessment:

The ‘Owner’ needs to assess how best to resolve the Complaint.

This may be by simply getting the parties together and working through the complaint.
If there are multiple parties then they may need to assess if a simple ‘sorry’ can be agreed to smooth over several conflicting viewpoints without the need for a formal meeting.
If the Owner feels that the complaint is more complex they should seek advice from Central Office.

Resolution:

The ‘Owner’ needs to ensure there is an amicable ‘Resolution’ if at all possible and may need to assign judgment. They should ensure that all parties are agreed that the Complaint has been completed especially the originator of the Complaint. If either party(ies) appeal(s) they have 14 days from the ‘Resolution date’, a review will be initiated with a different mutually agreed Committee member. If the Complaint can not be resolved locally then the Complaint and evidence should be sent to Central Office.

Record:

The record of the Complaint and process is to be recorded and kept in a secure location for 3 years.