Smethwick Church Action Network is committed to delivering a high standard of service to anyone who engages with our work. We believe that the best way to improve our service is by learning from the people who use it.

We welcome comments, compliments and complaints from the people who use our projects, referral agencies, volunteers, and anyone else we come into contact within our work. These help us to see what we are doing well and where we can make improvements.

We aim to promote an environment where people are encouraged to raise and discuss issues informally and, where necessary, seek solutions to prevent them developing into problems or complaints. However, we recognise that there may be situations where people are not happy with the outcome of an informal discussion or feel that the issue needs to be taken further.  In these cases, Smethwick Church Action Network has a complaints procedure so that we can work towards a resolution in a fair and transparent manner.

Our promise and commitment  

We recognise that there may be times when our services and activities do not meet your expectations. If this happens, it is important that we know about it as soon as possible so that we can deal with the situation effectively to try to prevent it from happening again and to learn from our mistakes. We promise to take all feedback and complaints seriously and to deal with them in a timely manner.

Principles

• People making complaints have the right to be treated equally and not suffer discrimination.

• People making a complaint are entitled to seek external assistance to advocate on their behalf.

• Complaints are to be treated with an open mind and will be investigated without prejudice.

• People making complaints have the right to confidentiality. If requested, names will not be disclosed in investigating complaints.

• Anonymous complaints will not be investigated.

• Abusive and offensive comments are not defined as complaints and will not be accepted as complaints and will therefore not be subject to this procedure.

How to register a complaint or give feedback

If you have a complaint, or would like to share a concern, compliment, or comment on any aspect of our service, you can contact us in one of the following ways:

·         In person to staff/volunteers at the foodbank, pantry, or office

·         By phone: 0121 517 0141

·         By email: hello @smethwickcan.org

·         Write to the following address:

Smethwick Foodbank
Holy Trinity Church
Church Hill Street
Smethwick
B67 7AH

Please tell us what your complaint or feedback is about and what you would like to see happen as a result.  Please also tell us how we may contact you.

What will happen after I complain?

1.     We will acknowledge your complaint within five working days of receipt and provide you with the name of the person responsible for investigating the matter on your behalf.

2.     The person responsible for the investigation will write to you with their findings and proposed resolution within twenty-eight days from receipt of the complaint*.

This is likely to involve discussions with the member or members of staff about whom the complaint is made, and/or volunteers and others involved.  If it is a complaint about other matters such as the facilities which we offer, the Project Manager will take such steps as may be required, to understand and consider your complaint. All interviews or discussions will be recorded by an impartial note taker (this could be a member of staff not involved with the complaint), this person will be designated by the person responsible for dealing with the complaint. Both parties should see the notes once typed up and sign to confirm that they are an accurate record.

3.     If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of the investigation, you may appeal or escalate your concerns to the Chair of Trustees, or the Deputy Chair of Trustees, letters must be received within twenty-one working days of the date on the correspondence notifying you of the outcome of the first investigation.

4.     The complaint will be reinvestigated, and you will be informed of the outcome within 10 working days*.

* Unless the complaint is particularly complex or time-consuming, in which case you will be kept informed of the progress of the investigation and notified of the expected date of completion.

Wherever possible, Smethwick Church Action Network will respect your confidentiality and keep your complaint confidential as far as possible. Any information about the complaint will usually only be shared with those who need to know to help resolve it.  

There may, however, be occasions when we cannot provide absolute confidentiality, for example in circumstances where a child or vulnerable adult may be at risk of harm.

Data Privacy Statement

Smethwick Church Action Network is registered as a data controller with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office under registration number ZA285667.

We use the personal information that you provide in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 to process your complaint. We have a legitimate interest in holding this information to be able to monitor and improve our services.

We will collect personal information including your name and contact details, including postal address, telephone number, email address and social media contact information, in order to be able to investigate your complaint and to communicate with you about it. We will also collect sufficient information about the situation that you are contacting us about to be able to understand what has happened and help you seek a resolution to your complaint.

Where your complaint relates to services involving our partners, for example a referral agency or Trussell or Your Local Pantry, then we may need to share your information with a third party. 

We keep this information for 2 years after your complaint has been closed, unless we have a requirement to keep it longer, in which case we will inform you of this. After this time the data will be aggregated and anonymised. 

For further information about how we use your personal information see our Privacy Policy – available at www.smethwickcan.org/privacy.