Why we need the Complaint Standards
Complaints offer a valuable source of learning to help improve services for everyone. Good complaint handling provides a direct and positive connection between those who provide services and their service users.
We have heard from people who handle complaints and service users and people who support them. They want to see a single vision that guides the way complaints, about public services are handled.
It can often be difficult for colleagues to deliver good complaint handling because:
- some organisations do not actively promote a learning culture where complaints are welcomed and used as a valuable source of learning
- there is no single set of guidelines for managing complaints
- colleagues handling complaints do not always get the right training and support
- managers and leaders approach learning from complaints in different ways
- service users who make complaints find the process complex and confusing – they do not get a
consistent, positive experience.
“From consultation with our community, it is clear that they face a complicated and confusing complaints landscape.”
Third sector organisation employee
This can lead to a culture in which complaints are feared or ignored, rather than embraced. As a result, colleagues who handle complaints can feel unsupported in this important and complex area of work.
The UK Central Government Complaint Standards are the first step towards addressing these issues. The Complaint Standards set out a single vision for complaint handling that will make complaining a consistent and positive experience for everyone involved.
They will provide:
- reassurance for colleagues who are the subject of a complaint, and make sure they feel supported and involved during the process
- the right environment for organisations and their colleagues to promote a learning culture where complaints are welcomed and seen as a valuable source of feedback
- a solid foundation for training and skills development, and for building confidence in complaint handling.
The Standards also help organisations show they take complaints seriously and take action to address them.
The Complaint Standards are designed to support the work many Government organisations have already done to strengthen their complaints processes. They will promote a learning culture, with more accountability and openness.
The Standards will guide organisations of all sizes so they can put in place the right structures, reports and systems to capture and examine learning. This will help them gain true insight into their service users’ experience and will lead to better communication between central Government organisations and service users.
The Complaint Standards are supported by a model complaint handling procedure and detailed guidance on how each expectation can be applied in practice. The procedure can be tailored by each Government department so that it best fits their service, size and structure.
Organisations can use the model procedure as a benchmark to ensure consistency in practice. This will help organisations deliver what service users say they want when they make a complaint.
By adopting the Standards, organisations will be able to provide a quicker, simpler and more streamlined complaint handling service and use learning to improve services for future users.