Complaints PROCEDURE

Edinburgh Food Project views complaints as an opportunity to learn and improve for the future, as well as a chance to put things right for the person or organisation that has made the complaint.

Our policy is:
• To provide a fair complaints procedure that is clear and easy to use for anyone wishing to make a complaint.
• To publicise the existence of our complaints procedure so that people know how to contact Edinburgh Food Project to make a complaint.
• To make sure everyone at Edinburgh Food Project knows what to do if a complaint is received.
• To make sure all complaints are investigated fairly and in a timely way.
• To make sure that complaints are, wherever possible, resolved and that relationships are repaired.
• To gather information which helps us to improve what we do.

If you are unhappy about any aspect of the advice or support you have received, please do talk to a team member first, but if it cannot be resolved, then let us know.

Complaints can be registered to any member of staff or trustee by any method, including:
• Handed in using Edinburgh Food Project’s complaints form.
• Sent to Unit 12, New Lairdship Yards, Edinburgh, EH11 2UY
• By e-mail to complaints@edinburghfoodproject.org
• Verbal complaints may be made by phone to 0131 444 0030
or in person to any of Edinburgh Food Project’s staff, or Trustees.

Complaints received by telephone or in person will be recorded for clarity, including the following:
• The facts of the complaint.
• The complainant’s name, address and telephone number.
• The relationship of the complainant to Edinburgh Food Project (for example: client, visitor, donor).

Stage One

 All complaints will be acknowledged within 5 working days. The acknowledgement will say who is dealing with the complaint and when the person complaining can expect a reply.

The complaint will be assigned to an appropriate member of staff to investigate. The investigation may include the examination of written and electronic records and interviewing persons implicated in the complaint.

The complainant will receive a definitive response to their complaint within 20 working days from receipt of the complaint which will also include full details on how to refer the complaint to the next stage, if the complainant feels the problem has not been satisfactorily resolved.

Where investigation of the complaint is particularly complex or time-consuming, it may be necessary to extend the deadline, and the complainant will be notified.

Stage Two

If the complainant is dissatisfied with the outcome of the Stage One investigation, they may request escalation of the complaint to Stage Two, within 21 calendar days of receiving the Stage One response.

The complaint will be reviewed by the Chair of the Board of Trustees, who will assign the investigation to the Director or an appropriate member of the Board of Trustees to investigate.

The Stage Two complaint will be acknowledged within 5 working days. The acknowledgement will say who is dealing with the complaint and when the person complaining can expect a reply.

The complainant will receive a final response to their complaint within 20 working days from the date the Stage Two complaint was received. This will include details on how to refer the complaint to Stage Three if the complainant feels the problem has not been satisfactorily resolved by Edinburgh Food Project.

 Stage Three

  1. External – Complaints about our Money Advice Service

If the complainant feels that the problem has not been satisfactorily resolved at Stage Two, they will be told that their complaint can be referred to and reviewed by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

FOS forms will be available to the client along with the FOS contact details and the FOS leaflet ‘Your complaint and the ombudsman’, to allow them to take the complaint further should they wish to do so.

The FOS requires complainants to contact the FOS within six months of receiving the final complaint response from Edinburgh Food Project.

Contact details:

Website: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Telephone: 0300 123 9123 or 0800 023 4567 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday – and on Saturdays from 9am to 1pm.

Email: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Address:

The Financial Ombudsman Service

Exchange Tower

London

E14 9SR

  1. External – Complaints about our food banks

Foodbanks in the Trussell Trust network are independent charities, not part of the Trussell Trust itself, in this case Edinburgh Food Project. Complaints against food banks should therefore be dealt with at a local level wherever possible. However, if the complaint is specific to the operations of the food bank centre and the complainant feels that the problem has not been satisfactorily resolved at Stage Two, they will be told that their complaint can be referred to and reviewed by the Trussell Trust.

Please note that the Trussell Trust will need to share your details, and the details of the complaint with Edinburgh Food Project, unless you state in writing that you wish to remain anonymous.

Contact details:

Website: www.trusselltrust.org

Telephone: 01722 580 180

Email: customer.service@trusselltrust.org with ‘complaint’ in the subject line. It should include a full explanation of the problem, how it occurred, and the impact on you. Describe what you think we should do to put things right.

Address:

FAO: the Complaints Officer at the Trussell Trust

Unit 9 Ashfield Road Trading Estate

Salisbury

SP2 7HL

  1. External – Complaints about our fundraising activities:

Charities have primary responsibility for dealing with fundraising complaints under the enhanced self-regulation system therefore complaints should, in the first instance, be directed to the charity for them to resolve.

If the complainant feels that the problem has not been satisfactorily resolved at Stage Two, the complaint can be escalated to the Scottish Fundraising Adjudication Panel who will make an adjudication in line with the requirements of the Code of Fundraising Practice.

Contact details:

Website: www.goodfundraising.scot

Telephone: 0808 164 2520

Email: info@goodfundraising.scot

Address:

Scottish Fundraising Adjudication Panel

c/o The Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR)

2nd Floor Quadrant House

9 Riverside Drive

Dundee

DD1 4NY