Complaints Procedures in General
From September 2003, each school must establish a general complaints procedure. It must be published, so that parents know that it is there for them to use if they have concerns. The DfES and LAs have issued procedural guidance and model policies to help governors put these policies in place.
Each school needs to tailor its general complaints procedure to its own specific circumstances. For example, Catholic schools may wish to include references to the role of the Diocese (see below), so that the expectations of staff, governors and parents are clear. Catholic schools will also wish to include a statement in the written procedure explaining how the gospel values and the ethos of the school are reflected both in the arrangements and in how they are operated. It should be made clear that the school will do all it can to resolve complaints informally at an early stage so that progress to formal stages is rare.
Specific requirements are laid down for managing parental complaints in some areas, such as the curriculum, collective worship and special educational needs. Also, some school policies, such as those covering child protection, bullying and racial harassment, will contain specific advice on how to respond to allegations and manage appropriately the situations that may arise. Other areas, such as pupil admissions and exclusions and staff grievance, discipline and capability, have specific procedures which must be followed. They are not part of a general complaints procedure. The anti-discrimination legislation coming into force in late 2003 has implications for how allegations of discrimination are dealt with (please refer to Appendix Six.).
General Checks on Good Practice
- Have the LA and teacher associations been involved when drawing up the school complaints procedure.
- Has the complaints procedure been publicised effectively to parents, governors and staff?
- Is there a code of conduct and list of sanctions to which those hearing the complaint can refer?
- Has someone, for example, a member of staff, been given responsibility for managing the school complaints procedure, so that complaints go through the appropriate stages and are resolved promptly?
- Has someone, such as the Clerk, been given responsibility for arranging any hearings involving governors and following up any decisions?
- Is there an informal stage of the procedure and has it been used so that concerns may be resolved quickly if possible?
- Have time limits for starting investigations and reporting results been built into the procedure and have they been observed?
- Has discussion of complaints at full meetings of governors been prevented? (This discussion should not happen as an appeal process involving governors may be required.)
- Has a properly constituted panel been set up? (No governor should deal with a complaint alone. An odd number of governors, at least three, should serve on any governors’ hearing: three for the hearing and three for the appeal. They should not be connected with the case.)
- Have the investigators been briefed on how to be fair and unbiased? Although the complaints procedure may not necessarily follow the rules of a court of law, there must be clarity about the ‘rules of evidence’ to be used and consistency in applying them.
- Have all documents been distributed to all parties in good time?
- Has the person making the complaint had the opportunity to state their case, have it heard impartially and been treated justly during and after the complaint?
- Has the person complained about been given full details of the complaint and the evidence brought forward to support it, and been given an opportunity to respond?
- Have decisions and the reasons for them been communicated in writing?
- Has the person who is making the complaint been informed about their right to appeal if the decision is given against them? (They can bring a friend or adviser to help them put their case.)
- Is there routine logging of complaints, discussions with each party and action taken by the school? (This needs to be a reliable part of any procedure. External bodies such as Ofsted may require access to the school’s record of complaints, including the frequency of types of complaint.)
- Does the school use the record of complaints to identify underlying or recurring issues and arrange for these to be taken up by appropriate staff or governors?
The Importance of Responding to Parental Complaints
Parents need to feel confident that it is worthwhile to raise complaints because they have learned that the school will investigate them fairly. Parents are more likely to rely on the school’s complaints procedures if these are well publicised and the school has built a reputation for handling complaints well. If, having followed the procedure, parents are dissatisfied with the outcome, they will have the right to go to external bodies. If confidence is lacking, parents are more likely to lodge their complaints externally at an early stage.
The role of the Diocese in parental complaints
Complaints from parents concerning schools are sometimes lodged with the Bishop, the Schools Service or priests. The aim of the Diocese will be to act corporately, fairly, consistently and with compassion. The guiding principles are that (1) parents have a right to complain, (2) schools have a right to know about complaints and to respond to them in the first instance within their established procedures, (3) the Diocese has an important role in helping complaints to be resolved if this cannot be done at school level, and (4) the Diocese must act in accordance with the law in reporting to the appropriate authorities matters involving potential criminal conduct or public safety.
- If it is clear that the school’s procedures have not been exhausted, the Diocese will respond to a complaint by directing the parent back to the school.
- If the parent expects the Diocese to become involved in any way, the parent will be asked to put their complaint in writing and will be told that the Diocese will share the complaint with the school.
- Occasionally, parents ask that their complaint be treated in confidence and not acted on. Except in exceptional circumstances, the Diocese will nevertheless encourage the parents to bring their complaint to the attention of the school.
- The Diocese will not normally act as a conduit for ‘anonymous’ complaints. However, where a volume of complaints is received on a consistent theme, the Diocese may share this fact with the school.
- Depending on the nature of the complaint, the Head or the Chair of Governors will normally be informed of complaints received by the Diocese and given the opportunity to comment.
- Complaints brought to the attention of the Bishop or diocesan priests may be passed to the Schools Service for advice and response.
- At the invitation of the school and/or on the instruction of the Bishop, diocesan officers may become involved in the resolution of parental complaints by offering advice and guidance on appropriate procedures.
- Occasionally, the matter of complaint will require more active intervention. In these cases, the Schools Service will work with the LA and the school for a resolution of the problem.
Dealing with Complaints by School Staff and Governors
The governors should adopt a procedure based on the CES model procedure for resolving grievances by members of school staff against other staff or against governors. Governors with complaints against staff should refer their concern to the chair of governors, who should refer the matter to the head.
The governing body should adopt a general procedure for resolving complaints and disputes among governors. The procedures should be based on the principles for any effective complaints procedure. There should be an informal stage of resolution through discussion and negotiation. The more formal stage will involve the presentation of the views of both parties to a panel and the right of appeal. A person not previously involved, such as the chair of governors, should provide the point of appeal.
DfES procedures for governing bodies introduced in 2003 allow the governing body to suspend governors temporarily. The procedures for this need to be agreed by the governors in advance.
Dealing with Complaints involving Foundation Governors
The Bishop appoints all foundation governors and has the sole right to remove them. This includes the issuing of notice of removal for non-attendance. No foundation governor should be dismissed by the school or be invited to resign. No suspension of a foundation governor’s attendance at meetings or governors’ functions should be made without the consent of the Bishop. Nevertheless, foundation governors will always be expected to abide by any reasonable codes of conduct agreed and operated by the governors.
Where serious disputes arise, the Bishop will offer an opportunity for reconciliation between a foundation governor and the governing body, through the officers of the Schools Service. Where no remedy is found, the Bishop may consider recommending resignation to the foundation governor as the best course of action for the good of the school. The Bishop may also remove a foundation governor where serious misconduct has occurred or where a foundation governor has significantly failed to ensure that the school upholds and acts in accordance with the purposes of the Trust Deed.
School complaints and clergy
Concerns raised by clergy concerning the school should be addressed through the school’s complaints procedure. Disputes between schools and priests of the parishes which the school serves should be resolved, if necessary, in consultation with the Schools Service. Concerns about clergy in governor roles, or as teachers, chaplains or school helpers, should be dealt with according to the procedures in place for these roles. If a complaint proceeds to stage 3 or leads to a disciplinary hearing, the Bishop should be informed. Complaints about clergy in their role as priests of the diocese should be resolved locally, failing which they should be addressed to the Bishop.
Devising a robust complaints procedure
The procedure should follow closely the guidance issued by the LA, since legal liability may be involved. The complaints procedure is invoked when disagreement has occurred between two or more parties and they have not been able to resolve things among themselves.
The procedure should identify each complaint clearly from the beginning, so that an appropriate response can be made. Each complaint then needs to be managed. This may be more difficult than it appears. Often a complaint brings a counter-complaint. In a school with a ‘complaint culture’ the burden of dealing with formal complaints can be considerable. A complaint might be made by one person, or by several persons acting on their own behalf, or by groups who bring a shared complaint. Alternatively, separate complaints may be directed at the same person. These may or may not share a common theme. Occasionally, several different complaints may be pursued following the same events.
Lodging a complaint may be a difficult and reluctant step for many parents. For such parents to accept the procedure and its outcome, they have to see it as accessible to them and as fair. In running the investigation, every effort should be made to assure the parent that the school’s purpose is to reach a fair resolution.
After the school’s response, the complaints procedure itself may come under attack. Training is essential if key staff who manage complaints are to avoid becoming bogged down in procedural sidetracks. Complaints managers need to be ready to consult experienced advisers if they are unsure of how to proceed.
