How to Complain

Introduction

This information aims to help you understand the National Lottery Charities Board's complaints procedure. We welcome complaints, comments and suggestions, since these can help us improve our services for everyone. If you work for, or are involved with, a charity or voluntary group, making a complaint will not affect your chances of receiving a grant from the National Lottery Charities Board.

What can you complain about?

If you think we have failed to provide a satisfactory standard of service, or have handled a problem badly, please let us know. Your complaint might be about delays, discourtesy or mistakes, or you might find our application process difficult to understand. The Board is committed to equal opportunities and takes complaints about discrimination very seriously.

However, please note that inevitably many organisations are disappointed because the Board has had to reject their application for funding. Please do not complain about that. The complaints procedure is not an appeals system against properly reached decisions of the Board.

Who will deal with your complaint?

Your complaint will normally be handled by the appropriate Director or Regional Manager, depending on where you are based and on the subject of your complaint. (see contacts pages for further details)

How to make a complaint

You can complain in the way which is best suited to you. You can complain in writing, either by letter, or by completing the form available for download. You can complain by telephoning your nearest office, or in person, or you can make a tape and send it to us. If you complain by email, please include your full name and address. Please let us know if there is anything we need to know in order to contact you - for example, if you would like us to reply by textphone or using an audio tape.

We will treat every complaint properly, and we will treat everyone who complains with courtesy and respect.

Help us to put things right

It is easier to put things right if you are clear about why you are not satisfied and what action you would like us to take. If you are unhappy with something we have done, it is a good idea to keep a record at the time of the contact you have had with us - make a note of telephone calls and keep copies of letters.

When will you hear from us?

We will let you know that we have received your complaint within five working days. We may write to you, or telephone you.

In most case you will receive a full written reply to your complaint within 15 working days. If we cannot give a full reply in this time, we will write to tell you why, and to let you know what we are doing to respond to your complaint.

If the complaint is complex, we aim to let you have a full reply within two months. If you are not satisfied with the reply to your complaint, you can ask the Chief Executive of the National Lottery Charities Board to review the matter. He can only look at complaints which have been considered first by the appropriate Director or Regional Manager.

Who can help if you are not happy with the answer?

The Board has appointed an Independent Complaints Reviewer. The Independent Complaints Reviewer cannot consider complaints that you have not first raised with the National Lottery Charities Board according to the procedure described in this leaflet.

The Independent Complaints Reviewer is impartial and hears both sides of a complaint, in circumstances where you are not satisfied with the outcome of a complaint you have made. If the Independent Complaints Reviewer considers that a complaint about the National Lottery Charities Board is justified, he can make recommendations to put matters right, although he cannot recommend that a grant decision is reversed.

The Independent Complaints Reviewer is not part of the National Lottery Charities Board's management structure, and his investigations and recommendations are entirely independent.

You can ask the Independent Complaints Reviewer to look at your complaint, or the Chief Executive of the National Lottery Charities Board can ask him to do this. It will not cost you anything if you or the Chief Executive of the National Lottery Charities Board ask the Independent Complaints Reviewer to look at your complaint.

Complaints not dealt with by the Independent Complaints Reviewer

The Independent Complaints Reviewer has discretion as to whether or not to investigate a complaint but he will always give reasons for his decisions not to do so. The Independent Complaints Reviewer cannot reverse decisions on which projects receive - or do not receive grants. The Independent Complaints Reviewer cannot comment on the National Lottery Charities Board's statutory responsibilities, which are a matter for Parliament, or on the Board's overall policies on grant making, which are a matter for the Board.

The Independent Complaints Reviewer cannot look at complaints which the National Lottery Charities Board has not first been given the opportunity to respond to both locally and by the Chief Executive.

The Independent Complaints Reviewer cannot look at complaints made by National Lottery Charities Board staff about internal employment issues, which are dealt with separately under the procedures laid out in the Board's Staff Handbook. Neither can the Independent Complaints Reviewer handle complaints about employment or contractual matters, where the complainant has the possibility of legal redress elsewhere.

Applicant's Charter

Our aims

to be accessible to a wide range of organisations and communities, large and small, and to make special efforts to make sure all organisations have the same chance to apply for grants
to reflect the cultural and ethnic diversity of groups and communities across the UK in the grants we give
to be fair, open and accountable in our procedures
to practise equal opportunities in all parts of our grant giving.

Our practice

to monitor and evaluate our service to ensure we provide the best service we can
to assess all eligible applications against our criteria
to acknowledge applications and answer letters within 14 days of receiving them, in a professional and courteous manner
to ensure that no applicant will receive less favourable treatment for any reason.

Information and openness

we will publish our annual report and accounts so that everyone can see how we operate and the types of projects we have supported
we will produce information about our programmes in a broad range of languages and formats
we will keep in touch with the views and needs of the voluntary sector.

Courtesy and helpfulness

we aim to be efficient, polite and supportive in everything we do if possible, we will suggest how organisations can get assistance in completing their application form.

Obligations of the applicant

to read the criteria carefully
to apply for a grant under the most relevant grants programme
to submit complete applications only
to answer all our questions thoroughly
to be willing and prepared to talk with our grants officers.

How to contact the Independent Complaints Reviewer

You can contact the Independent Complaints Reviewer by:

letting us know that you are not content with our replies and that you want to refer your complaint to the Independent Complaints Reviewer

or by

writing directly to the address below:

The Independent Complaints Reviewer
PO BOX 16691
London
SW1Y 4ZR

Your letter will be acknowledged within five working days.

The Independent Complaints Reviewer will send a report of his examination of the complaint to you and to the Chief Executive of the Board. The Chief Executive will discuss with the Chairman of the Board the action to be taken.

How are complaints monitored?

Board members will receive a report of complaints and the way they have been dealt with. We will study all complaints and use them to help improve our services.

Impressed?

We are interested in all comments and suggestions about the National Lottery Charities Board, so if there is anything we have handled well or which has impressed you, please let us know.

Where to send your complaint

Addresses of all our offices are listed on a separate page.

If you need further advice on how to make a complaint please contact your local Charities Board office.