ADVANTAGE WEST MIDLANDS COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
Advantage West Midlands is committed to delivering efficient and high quality
services, and in doing so we aim to deal promptly, courteously and helpfully with
enquiries from our customers and stakeholders. We also aim to be an open and
transparent organisation, and to proactively publish the information that our
customers and stakeholders
require.
This guidance explains what you should do if you are not satisfied with the standard
of service you have received from Advantage West Midlands.
The aim of these procedures
Advantage West Midlands welcomes the views of its customers and stakeholders
about its performance and the standard of service it provides, both positive and
negative. This feedback can help us to improve the quality of service.
The Agency recognises that from time to time things may go wrong and we may not
meet the high standards of service that we have set ourselves. When this does
happen we are keen to know so that we can put things right and learn from what has
gone wrong.
If Advantage West Midlands fails to provide the quality of service you expect we will:
• Ensure that making a complaint is made as easy as possible;
• Treat the matter seriously from the outset;
• Deal with it promptly, politely and, if possible, informally;
• Include in our response an apology where we accept that we have not met the
high standards of service we aim to provide, including an explanation of why
things went wrong and how we aim to ensure this does not occur again; and
• Publish information about the complaints we receive.
Types of Complaints
The Agency may receive complaints about:
• The standard of service it has provided, which could include, amongst others,
issues of process, quality, responsiveness or openness (see section 1 below); or
• Issues relating to access to information under the Freedom of Information Act
2000 or the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (see section 2 below).
1. COMPLAINTS ABOUT STANDARDS OF SERVICE
The Agency’s complaints procedure about its standards of service is in three stages.
In the first instance the Agency aims to resolve complaints informally, but where this
is not possible complaints will be dealt with formally by an Agency Corporate
Director. If you are not satisfied with the response received from a Corporate Director
the final stage of the internal complaints procedure is a review by the Agency’s Chief
Executive.
Stage One - Dealing with a complaint informally
If you are dissatisfied with the service you have received from Advantage West
Midlands, you should in the first instance raise this directly with the person in the
Agency you have been dealing with, who will attempt to put things right quickly and
informally. A response will be made within 5 working days of receipt of your
complaint, usually by telephone, and will include an explanation of any action the
Agency proposes to take in response to your complaint. You will also be advised
what to do next if you are not satisfied with the response to your complaint.
Stage 2 - Making a formal complaint
If you are not satisfied with the informal response to your complaint, you will be
advised to put your complaint in writing. This should be sent to:
The Board and Corporate Support Team
Advantage West Midlands
3 Priestley Wharf
Holt Street
Aston Science Park
Birmingham
B7 4BN
This will be treated as a formal complaint under Stage Two of the Agency’s
complaints procedure. The Board and Corporate Support Team will record receipt of
the complaint, send an acknowledgement of your complaint within 5 working days of
receipt, and refer it to the relevant Corporate Director in the Agency to investigate.
The Corporate Director who receives a complaint under Stage Two will:
• make sure that the complaint is clear;
• check that the stage one procedure has been completed;
• review, with the person who dealt with the initial approach, the reasons for their
response;
• consider the issues afresh for themselves;
• decide upon their own findings in the light of these considerations; and
• write to you setting out their findings within 15 working days of receipt of your
complaint by the Agency.
Where it is not possible to give a full response within this time, the Agency will write
to you to explain why there will be a delay, what is being done to investigate the
complaint, and when a full reply can be expected.
The full reply sent by a Corporate Director will provide details of the results of the
investigation into the complaint. Where it is accepted that the Agency has not met the
high standards of service it aims to provide the reply will include an apology, an
explanation of why things went wrong, and how we aim to ensure this does not occur
again. The response will also explain the next steps in the complaints procedure if
you are not satisfied with the response.
Stage 3 – Review by Chief Executive
If you are not satisfied with the response received from a Corporate Director under
Stage Two, you should put this in writing to the Agency’s Chief Executive explaining
why you are still dissatisfied. An acknowledgement of your complaint will be sent
within 5 working days of receipt by the Agency, and a full reply will normally be sent
by the Chief Executive within 15 working days. Where it is not possible to send a
reply within this time, the Agency will write to you to explain why there will be a delay,
what is being done to investigate the complaint, and when a full reply can be
expected.
The response from the Chief Executive will set out the results of his review of the
complaint. It will also explain what further action you can take if you are still
dissatisfied with the response to your complaint.
Review by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration
If your complaint has still not been resolved to your satisfaction, you can ask your
Member of Parliament to put complaints about the Agency to the Parliamentary
Ombudsman, who is an officer of the House of Commons appointed by the Queen,
wholly independent of Government. The Parliamentary Ombudsman will only
consider complaints referred to him by a Member of Parliament. The Parliamentary
Ombudsman will not normally consider a complaint that has not first been put in
writing to Advantage West Midlands for consideration.
Further information about the Parliamentary Ombudsman can be obtained at:
www.ombudsman.org.uk or from the following address:
Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London SW1P 4QP
2. ACCESS TO INFORMATION APPEALS PROCEDURES
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations
2004 provide a right of access to recorded information held by the Agency. The
Agency aims to be an open and transparent organisation and to provide information
that has been requested wherever possible. However, the Agency may withhold
information if it considers that it is subject to an absolute exemption under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000, or where it is covered by a qualified exemption
under the Freedom of Information Act or the Environmental Information Regulations
2004 and the Agency believes it is not in the public interest to disclose the
information1. All decisions to withhold information will need to be endorsed by the
relevant Agency Corporate Director. The Agency will always explain why it has
withheld information, including providing details of the relevant exemption(s) under
the appropriate Act, and also advise individuals about their right of appeal against a
decision to withhold information.
Appeals
1 The Agency has the right to refuse to fulfil requests for information on specific grounds
under Section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and Regulations 5 and 12 of the
Environmental Information Regulations 2004.
If you are dissatisfied with the way a request for information has been dealt with by
the Agency, or by a decision to withhold information, you can appeal against this
decision2. All appeals about access to information should be sent to:
Head of Corporate and Business Services
Advantage West Midlands
3 Priestley Wharf
Holt Street
Aston Science Park
Birmingham
B7 4BN
An acknowledgement of your appeal will be sent within 5 working days of receipt by
the Agency, and we will arrange for an internal review to be carried out by a member
of staff who was not involved in the original decision.
The Agency will make its decision on appeals as soon as possible, and in any event
within 6 weeks of receipt by the Agency for appeals relating to requests for
information under the Freedom of Information Act and 40 working days for appeals
relating to requests for information under the Environmental Information Regulations.
Where an appeal is wholly or partly upheld, the Agency will inform you of the action it
proposes to take. If the decision is to release information previously withheld, the
Agency will advise you when you can expect to receive this.
Where the outcome of an appeal is that the initial decision to withhold information is
upheld, this will need to be endorsed by the Agency’s Chief Executive (or in his
absence the Deputy Chief Executive).
You will be advised of the Agency’s decision in writing, and also be informed about:
• your right to appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office against the
Agency’s decision;
• the Information Commissioner’s enforcement powers; and
• your right and the Agency’s right to appeal to the Information Tribunal following
the Information Commissioner’s decision.
Further details about the Information Commissioner can be obtained from:
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk, or by writing to:
The Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
2 A right of appeal against a decision by the Agency to withhold information is provided under
Section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and Regulation 18 of the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004.
