Stage One - Informal Complaint

a) The University intends to deal with complaints quickly and will endeavour to respond within 15 working days. To this end, complainants are encouraged to discuss issues in the first instance with the relevant member of University staff or his/her line manager. It is hoped that this will result in a satisfactory resolution to the issue. If a resolution cannot be achieved formal procedures will then apply.

b) The University encourages anyone with a complaint to bring it forward informally in the first instance. An informal complaint can be looked at and responded to by any member of the University Policy Advisory Group, Senior Staff Forum or an appropriate deputy.

c) All complaints are expected to follow the logical route of ‘stage one: informal’ before proceeding onto ‘stage two: formal’. Only in exceptional cases will the University permit stage one to be bypassed.

d) The procedure for informal complaints can be varied according to the nature of the grievance expressed. In all cases the Complaints Officer will maintain a record of decisions taken. In the instance of a complaint against a student or member of staff any action taken will remain on file for 12 months.

e) Where an informal complaint is not satisfactorily resolved through informal means, a formal complaint may be made in writing to the Complaints Officer. Complainants have 10 working days to object to a decision made at stage one and submit a formal complaint under stage two of the procedure.

f) Details of all informal complaints and their outcomes will be reported to the Complaints Officer at the earliest opportunity. A record of informal complaints will be held and will be referred to during the investigation of a formal complaint.