9.1 Members recognise that an important part of the Code is accountability for decisions and an openness to responding, in a timely manner, to complaints from occupants that may occur.
Complaints
9.2 A Member must have a clear and accessible procedure for accepting and considering complaints from student occupants and this must be accessible on their website. That procedure must give contact details together with a target time for responding to complainants.
9.3 Their procedure provides occupants with a way(s) to raise matters of concern in confidence and where complaint/s relate to a member of staff’s conduct, they will ensure that staff complained about form no part of the consideration of the complaint.
9.4 They accept contact from occupants (or their authorised representatives) by telephone, email, a virtual meeting facility or face-to-face discussion.
9.5 They maintain a courteous professional relationship with the complainant.
9.6 Where occupants wish to make use of a representative the occupant will notify the Member in writing of both this intention and give their consent for information to be shared with this nominated third party. An authorised representative would include a parent or guardian making a complaint on behalf of a student. An exchange of emails will be adequate for these purposes.
9.7 They respond reasonably and promptly to occupants (or their representative) acknowledging the complaint within 3 days of receiving it and will provide a substantive written response to the complainant (or their representative) within 10 days or, where matters are complex then, within that 10 days will write to the complainant explaining why a longer period of consideration is necessary, together with an anticipated time when a full response can be provided.
9.8 Their complaints procedure must reference, and link to, the Code complaints procedure making it clear that if a complaint is not responded to by the Member within 28 days of it being lodged with them, then a complaint can be made to the Codes Complaints Investigator by the occupant.
9.9 In responding to a complaint the Member will set out the actions they propose to take and the overall timetable they aim to achieve and will honour any outcome within 10 days of a settlement being agreed.
The Codes Complaints Investigator
9.10 Where a complaint is received, the Codes Complaints Investigator’s first contact will be to see if the Member can resolve the complaint within their own procedures.
9.11 Members will assign a high level of importance to any correspondence or contact from the Investigator and will deal with any enquiry with a high level of priority. In the first instance, the Investigator will request the named representative of the Member who signed the Code declaration for membership to provide a named contact for communication purposes in connection with the investigation of the complaint. The Member must provide a named contact within two days of receiving the request. If they fail to do so, the named representative of the Member who signed the Code declaration for membership will be that named person.
9.12 Correspondence from the Investigator must be responded to as a priority but in any event not longer than five days.
9.13 The Codes Complaints Investigator will seek to ascertain whether the Code provisions have been breached and will aim to resolve any dispute between the Member and the occupant within a timescale decided upon by the Codes Complaints Investigator.
9.14 Members agree that any resolution between them and the occupant cannot involve the use of any form of non-disclosure agreement.
The Audit Panel
9.15 If timescales for responses are not met or the responses are regarded as insubstantial then the Codes Complaints Investigator can ask the Audit Panel to either suspend the building relating to the complaint from membership or suspend the Member, affecting their entire portfolio.
9.16 The Audit Panel may set timescales for breaches of the Code to be rectified and the Member agrees to comply with directives given to them by the Audit Panel, which oversees the operation of the Code’s assessment and verification system.
The Tribunal and Disputes
9.17 Where a complaint cannot be resolved, then this constitutes a dispute and the Complaints Investigator can refer the matter to the Tribunal. The Member will recognise the Tribunal’s authority to determine whether or not a breach of the Code has occurred and to make recommendations accordingly. If the Member does not follow all such recommendations, the Tribunal will deem them to be in breach of the Code. This breach will be made public and therefore available to prospective occupants. The Tribunal has the authority to exclude any Member from the Code.