Complaints Policy & Procedures

Our commitment to quality

We aim to provide our congregation and beneficiaries with the best possible services and the highest standards at all times and we strive to get things right first time.

However, we recognise that from time to time there may be occasions when users of our services feel that the quality or level of service provided falls short of what they could reasonably expect and or there is room for improvement and you wish to tell us about it.  The complaints we receive will help us to better understand how we are doing, what lessons we can learn and the improvements we can make, where appropriate.

We do not see a complaint as a negative, but an opportunity to improve our services, we do not see it as a criticism but an opportunity to listen; we are open and committed to hearing feedback good or bad and acknowledging your concerns and knowing what we are doing that is good which we can make excellent.

Service User Complaint

We consider a complaint to be a formal expression of dissatisfaction about any aspect of our service by a person or persons who have been directly involved in accessing and using our services as a service user, either in person or on-line.  A service user is a regular member of our congregation or a beneficiary of the charity.  A beneficiary is one who accesses and directly benefits from the services of the charity. 

Non-service User Complaint

Non-service users are partner stakeholders, contractors and members of the public.  

Complaints from partner stakeholders and contractors will be handled in accordance with any agreements that exist between parties.  If no such agreements exist, the complainant cannot make a complaint as a service user.  We welcome an open and frank dialogue on how we can make improvements, identify problem areas and consider changes that we can introduce, where appropriate.

Members of the public who are not service users, who wish to make suggestions are more than welcome to do so.  We encourage the wider engagement of members of the public and will openly listen to any suggestions and comments made in how we can improve our services to our congregation and beneficiaries.  Suggestions and 

comments will not be treated as a complaint, instead as a recommendation for the charity to consider.  You must adhere to any formal process communicated to you by the charity.

How to complain

Your continued goodwill is greatly valued by us and we want to resolve any day to day difficulties, concerns or complaints informally and as quickly as possible.  

Concerning a person:

Step One:

• In the first instance we would expect you to raise any complaint directly with the person or persons concerned and let them know of your dissatisfaction with any aspect of our service they have been involved in.

• If you feel that this has been reasonably addressed, then there is no need for any further action.

Step Two:

1. If you feel the complaint has not been satisfactorily resolved, then please register the complaint in one of the charities offices, situated at either 150 Golden Hillock Road (The Mosque office), or 96/98 Golden Hillock Road (The Community Hub office).

1. At the office you can ask to meet a member of staff, a manager or a trustee to hear your complaint.  If no one is available, please leave your contact details and someone will be in contact with you as soon as possible.  If someone is available, you now have the option to either ask the relevant person to informally deal with your complaint or to register your complaint formally.  

1. If your complaint can be dealt informally, then the person will guide you though this either immediately, or arrange a suitable time to meet, after taking down some basic details.
2. If you wish to formally complain, then you will need to follow the instructions below.

1. Please note down as much details as possible, the date and time, which part of the charity you were in, what service(s) you were accessing, the details of any witnesses, who else was involved and the details of why you believe you need to complain.  Please also note the details of how you attempted to resolve step one of your complaint and if you did not, your reasons not to do so.

1. If for some reason, you cannot register your complaint on site, please do note all the information you can from point (c) above as soon as you can.

Step Three:

1. You are now required to formally write out your complaint, this maybe carried out in an e-mail or by a letter.  All complaints must be in writing and must contain your personal contact details.  If you are sending your complaint by e-mail, please send it tocomplaints@gsmosque.org.  For postal letters, you can either drop the complaint off in person at the address listed below or post it.

Concerning a service:

Step One:

• In the first instance we would expect you to raise any complaint directly with a representative of the charity.  A representative can be a trustees, a staff member or a volunteer.  If you are unsure to who to speak to, please ask at one of our two offices, situated at either 150 Golden Hillock Road (The Mosque office), or 96/98 Golden Hillock Road (The Community Hub office).  Please let the representative know of your dissatisfaction with any aspect of our service and what you believe is a reasonable cause of action to rectify your dissatisfaction.

• If you feel that the representative has reasonably addressed your reason for a service dissatisfaction, then there is no need for any further action.

Step Two:

• If you feel that step one is not sufficient, then please follow the procedure outlined above in Concerning a person, Step Two & Step Three.

What happens next:

1. The General Manager or the Chairperson will handle your complaint or it may be delegated to someone else.  This person will now investigate the complaint from start to finish, unless there is a reason to pass a live complaint to another person to continue with.
2. The complaint will be acknowledged within 10 working days or further information requested in accordance with the Complaint (formal) Requirements, listed below.
3. The investigator will endeavour to handle your complaint as quickly as possible and will communicate with you at the earliest opportunity on the likely period of time it will take to complete the investigation.   This is subject to change, due to urgent operational matters or unexpected circumstances, however, the investigator will always keep you informed
4. The investigator will investigate the complaint and will outline his or her instructions to you in writing.
5. You will need to meet the investigator, if he or she requests you to do so.  You have the right to be accompanied by a friend or family member, but not a legal representative.  If your friend or family member is a legal representative by profession and or is associated in the legal profession he or she cannot accompany you.
6. You are not allowed to record any meetings, without the written consent of the charity.
7. If you fail to follow the instructions of the investigator or are unreasonable in your behaviour, as stated in writing by the investigator, the investigator has the right to issue a final warning for you to respond or amend your unreasonable behaviour within 5 working days or your complaint will not proceed any further.
8. Any form of abuse, physical or verbal, harassment, threats or anything similar may result in your complaint not proceeding any further and the charity reporting you to an appropriate authority and seeking to prosecute if appropriate.
9. The investigator after carrying out the investigation will formally write to you with the outcome and any appropriate actions that he or she will be recommending to the charity.
10. Subject to point 9 above, a senior representative (General Manager or a Trustee) of the charity may write to you, giving you further information on the recommendations stipulated by the investigator.  Please note the recommendations of the investigator are not binding upon the charity and are only suggestions.  You do not have a right to insist on the implementation of the recommendations or how the charity will proceed with the recommendations.  However, the charity will reasonably implement recommendations, whenever possible, in accordance with the opening statement of this policy.

Complaint(formal) Requirements:

1. Must be in writing
2. Letters must be in an envelope and marked private and confidential and addressed to either the General Manager or the Chairperson.
3. Must have your personal contact details, including your home address and telephone number.  Due to the high number of unknown and unverified e-mail complaints we have received in the recent period we will only consider a complaint from a genuine service user.  Therefore, we reserve the right to establish your identity prior to accepting you have a right to complain.
4. Must include the date and time of the reason for your dissatisfaction and other relevant details as outlined in Step Two (c) above.
5. The complaint must not be older than 10 days, unless there is an exceptional reason for your delay to formally complain.  Complaints that are older than 10 days, are unlikely to be considered.
6. We reserve the right to confirm the details of your complaint by any CCTV recordings we may hold of the reason for your dissatisfaction.
7. You must be willing to meet the investigator dealing with your complaint in person, unless there is an exceptional reason to not to do so, which you must state in writing and the investigator must accept.
8. You must respond with any further information the charity asks you for within a reasonable period of time, normally 5 working days, or respond within the agreed period of time that the charity has confirmed with you.
9. If you do not follow the process outlined in this policy and procedure, your complaint will not be considered and you will not have another opportunity to reopen the same complaint.

Your right to appeal:

If you are not happy with the outcome of the investigation, you have a right to appeal to the Board of Trustees.  This must be done by in writing (not an e-mail), in a sealed envelope, marked Private and Confidential, to the attention of the Board of Trustees.  The Board will decide who should hear your appeal and will outline the process for you to follow.

The decision of the Board on the appeal is final.