Complaints Policy and Procedure

Al-Waris Foundation is committed to providing a high-quality, fair, transparent and accessible service.

We recognise that sometimes things may go wrong.

Complaints are an important source of feedback and may help the charity:

Al-Waris Foundation will treat complaints seriously, fairly and respectfully.

No person will be treated adversely merely because they have raised a genuine complaint.

This policy explains:

This policy may apply to complaints concerning:

A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction about:

where the complainant expects the charity to respond or take action.

A person does not need to use the word "complaint" for their concern to be treated as one.

Not every criticism or concern requires the formal complaints process.

Where appropriate, a simple issue may be resolved through:

If the person remains dissatisfied or the matter is significant, it should be recorded and handled formally.

Some concerns should not be dealt with solely as ordinary complaints.

These include:

Concerns that a child or adult may be at risk of harm must be handled under the relevant safeguarding policy.

Serious wrongdoing raised by someone connected with the charity may fall under the Whistleblowing Policy.

Privacy complaints or data-rights requests may require action under the Data Protection and UK GDPR Policy.

Suspected fraud, theft, bribery, corruption or financial abuse should be dealt with under the relevant financial and anti-fraud procedures.

A complaint revealing a serious incident may require Charity Commission consideration.

Using another procedure does not necessarily prevent the concern from also being recorded as a complaint where appropriate.

Complaints may be made by:

Al-Waris Foundation may consider anonymous complaints where sufficient information is available to identify a credible risk or problem.

Anonymous complaints can be more difficult to investigate because clarification may not be possible.

A complaint should not automatically be ignored merely because the complainant does not identify themselves.

In particular, anonymous information concerning:

should be assessed on its merits.

Complaints may normally be made:

The current complaints contact route should be published on the Al-Waris Foundation website.

Where a complaint is made verbally, the person receiving it should make an appropriate written record.

Al-Waris Foundation will seek to make the complaints process reasonably accessible.

Where appropriate, assistance may include:

A person should not be disadvantaged because they require a reasonable adjustment.

A complaint should ideally include:

A complaint will not automatically be rejected because some of this information is unavailable.

Al-Waris Foundation aims to acknowledge formal complaints within 5 working days of receipt.

The acknowledgement should normally:

Most formal complaints will initially be handled at Stage 1.

The complaint should be allocated to an appropriate person who:

The person reviewing the complaint should, where appropriate:

The investigation should be proportionate to the seriousness of the complaint.

Al-Waris Foundation aims to provide a full Stage 1 response within 20 working days of receiving the complaint.

The response should normally explain:

Some complaints may take longer than 20 working days.

Examples include:

Where additional time is required, the complainant should normally be informed:

If the complainant remains dissatisfied, they may request a Stage 2 review.

The request should normally explain:

A Stage 2 review is not necessarily a complete reinvestigation of every issue.

Where reasonably possible, Stage 2 should be conducted by someone who:

Depending on the complaint, this may involve:

The charity aims to acknowledge a Stage 2 request within 5 working days.

The charity aims to provide the Stage 2 response within 20 working days of accepting the review request.

The response should normally explain:

Where a complaint materially concerns the Chair, the Chair should not determine the complaint.

The matter should be referred to:

Where a complaint concerns a trustee:

Where a complaint concerns several trustees or the independence of the Board itself is reasonably in question, the charity should consider:

Complaints concerning volunteers, contractors or representatives should be assessed fairly.

Depending on seriousness, action may include:

Fundraising complaints may concern:

The charity should assess whether any external fundraising regulator or authority also needs to be considered.

Fundraising complaints should be coordinated with the Fundraising Policy.

Donation-related complaints may concern:

Donation complaints should normally be coordinated with the donor-support workflow.

The appropriate public contact for donation-specific enquiries is:

donations@alwarisfoundation.org

Complaints concerning:

should be routed appropriately.

Technical account-support enquiries may be directed to:

support@alwarisfoundation.org

where this is the most appropriate contact.

Volunteer-related concerns may be directed through the volunteer process where appropriate.

The public contact for ordinary volunteering enquiries is:

volunteer@alwarisfoundation.org

However, complaints about volunteer misconduct should still be recorded and investigated through the appropriate complaint or safeguarding process.

Ordinary general enquiries that are not complaints should normally be directed to:

info@alwarisfoundation.org

The complaints process should not be used merely because a person has a normal information request.

Complaints will be handled confidentially.

Information should normally be shared only with people who need it to:

Absolute confidentiality cannot be guaranteed where information must be disclosed for:

Personal data relating to complaints must be handled in accordance with:

Complaint records may contain sensitive information and should have appropriately restricted access.

Where a complaint indicates:

the safeguarding process takes priority.

The ordinary complaint investigation must not delay:

Where a complaint suggests criminal conduct, the charity should consider whether:

should be contacted.

An internal complaint process must not obstruct a criminal investigation.

A complaint may reveal circumstances requiring consideration under the Serious Incident Reporting Policy.

Examples may include:

The Board should consider regulatory reporting separately from resolving the complainant's individual concerns.

Anyone handling a complaint must declare relevant conflicts.

A person should not normally determine a complaint concerning:

See the Conflict of Interest Policy.

The charity should seek to treat:

fairly.

A complaint is an allegation until appropriately considered.

The charity should not assume guilt merely because a complaint has been made.

Equally, a concern should not be dismissed merely because the person complained about is senior, trusted or well known.

Where a complaint alleges misconduct by a person, that person should normally be given a reasonable opportunity to respond before a final finding is made.

Exceptions may apply where:

The charity may consider evidence including:

Evidence should be assessed objectively.

Ordinary internal complaints are generally determined on the available evidence and what is more likely than not to have occurred.

This is not the criminal standard of proof.

Where criminal or regulatory matters arise, the appropriate external authority determines matters under its own legal standard.

A complaint may be:

The decision should be supported by reasons proportionate to the matter.

Where a complaint is upheld or partially upheld, remedies may include:

A remedy should be proportionate to the problem identified.

The complaints process does not automatically create a right to financial compensation.

Any payment should be:

Trustees must not use charitable funds for inappropriate personal settlements.

Professional advice should be obtained where necessary.

Complaints should be used to identify improvements.

The charity should consider:

Significant learning should be incorporated into procedures where appropriate.

Al-Waris Foundation should maintain an appropriate complaints register.

It may record:

Access must be restricted appropriately.

The Board should receive proportionate complaints information.

This may include anonymised information concerning:

Trustees should not routinely receive unnecessary identifiable complainant information.

Complaint records must be retained according to the Records Retention and Disposal Policy.

Retention periods should reflect:

Records should not be retained indefinitely without justification.

Al-Waris Foundation will seek to remain accessible even where a complainant is frustrated, upset or persistent.

However, the charity may take proportionate steps where behaviour becomes:

Restrictions should focus on behaviour rather than the fact that someone has complained.

Where necessary, the charity may:

Any restriction should be proportionate and recorded.

A person should still be able to raise genuinely new safeguarding or serious concerns.

The fact that a complaint is not upheld does not make it malicious.

A complaint should only be treated as malicious where there is reasonable evidence that it was knowingly false and made primarily to cause harm.

Care should be taken not to discourage genuine complainants.

A complainant may ask to withdraw their complaint.

The charity may nevertheless continue considering the matter where there are:

Once the internal process has been completed, the complainant may have the option to contact an external body depending on the nature of the concern.

This may include:

Al-Waris Foundation should not direct every dissatisfied complainant automatically to the Charity Commission.

The appropriate external body depends on the issue.

The Charity Commission is the regulator of charities in England and Wales.

It does not normally act as an appeal body for every service complaint.

However, serious concerns involving:

may fall within its remit.

Current guidance should be consulted where necessary.

Privacy and data protection complaints may be escalated to the Information Commissioner's Office where applicable.

The charity should provide current regulatory information rather than relying on outdated hard-coded contact details.

Where Al-Waris Foundation is subject to the Fundraising Regulator's framework in relation to the activity concerned, eligible fundraising complaints may be capable of external escalation after the charity has had an opportunity to respond.

Current applicable requirements should be checked.

No person should suffer retaliation merely because they have made a genuine complaint or assisted an investigation.

Retaliation may itself constitute misconduct.

A complaint can be stressful for both the complainant and the person complained about.

Appropriate support should be considered while maintaining:

Failure to follow this policy may result in:

Significant complaint-handling failures should be escalated appropriately.

This policy should be read alongside:

This policy will be reviewed:

Version: 2.0 Status: Approved Approved by: Board of Trustees Approval date: 25/08/2026 Next scheduled review: 24/08/2027