Policy Statement
The Corporation (Governing Body) of the Sixth Form College, Colchester aims to discharge its duties and responsibilities in such a way as to minimise the likelihood of public concerns occurring with regard to its oversight of the work of the College and stewardship of attendant public funds.
However, any complaints arising from members of the public will be treated seriously and resolved as quickly and satisfactorily as possible either informally or, at the complainant’s option, in accordance with the Corporation’s Complaints Procedure.
Before invoking the formal Complaints Procedure, members of the public are invited, if they judge such a course to be appropriate, to put their concerns informally to the Chair of the Corporation or the Clerk to the Corporation with a view to a satisfactory resolution at that stage.
If a satisfactory resolution cannot be reached informally, complaints will be received and dealt with in accordance with the Governing Body’s formal Complaints Procedure.
The Complaints Procedure set out below relates only to complaints arising from members of the public relating to the Governing Body or its individual members in the context of the duties which the Governing Body is required to carry out, the powers it may take, its procedures for the proper transaction of business and the fitness of individual members of the Governing Body to hold public office or their conduct whilst in office.
Complaints concerning the management of the College (other than the conduct of the Principal, who is a member of the Governing Body), its academic and other internal processes and procedures and the conduct of its staff or students (or any one of them) are properly directed to the College under provisions set out in the College Complaints Policy and Procedure and will not be dealt with by the Governing Body except as may be provided in the College Complaints Policy and Procedure.
Procedure
It is recognised that complaints may be made orally or in writing, and may refer to the Governing Body as a whole, or to an individual member or group of members.
If the complaint received by an individual governor or governors is made orally, the governor or governors shall request the complainant to put the complaint in writing in confidence to the Clerk of the Governing Body as a condition of it being investigated further.
If the complaint is made orally in the course of a meeting to which the public have access, the Chair of the meeting shall make the same request of the complainant.
If a written complaint is not received by the Clerk within three months of the original oral complaint, any notes which the Clerk may have made in relation to the complaint when it was reported to her/him will be destroyed.
Anonymous complaints will not ordinarily be investigated.
(i) Complaints Against the Corporation as a Whole:
The Clerk to the Governing Body, if not the addressee, shall be informed immediately in the event that a complaint is received by an individual governor and shall be passed the original of any written communication received from the complainant. The governor or governors receiving the complaint shall not discuss it with any person (including any other governor or the complainant) other than the Clerk.
If a written complaint is received by the Clerk, whether directly or as a result of guidance given to the complainant, s/he shall consider the evidence offered in support of the complaint, conduct any investigation s/he may consider necessary and report its outcome to the complainant. Members of the Governing Body and College staff are expressly required to co-operate in the conduct of the investigation, and the Clerk to the Governing Body is bound to keep confidential the nature of the complaint to the extent that confidentiality is consistent with the need to establish the facts.
If the Clerk to the Governing Body, having carried out the investigation, is satisfied that on the balance of probabilities the complaint is not well-founded, s/he will report that conclusion to the complainant and take no further action. At this point, the Clerk shall inform the Chair of the Governing Body of the complaint received, the facts established as a result of the investigation, the conclusion reached by the Clerk that no further action is required and its reasons.
Only if the complainant provides additional information giving rise to a reasonable presumption that there is something more to examine will the Clerk to the Governing Body make any further investigation of the complaint.
If the Clerk to the Governing Body, having carried out the investigation, is satisfied that on the balance of probabilities the complaint is well-founded, or that the facts alleged in the complaint cannot on the balance of probabilities be satisfactorily proven or disproved, s/he shall take the following actions:
a) where, in the judgement of the Clerk to the Governing Body, the complaint is well-founded but the matter complained of is of a minor nature (e.g. an unintended breach of procedure having no significant consequences and/or bringing no personal advantage to any member or members of the Governing Body or their connected persons), the Clerk shall propose remedial action to the next meeting of the Governing Body (or to the Chair of the Governing Body under Chair’s Action to the extent permitted under Standing Orders) and shall advise the complainant of the remedial action proposed and its outcome;
b) where, in the judgement of the Clerk to the Governing Body, the complaint is well-founded and the matter complained of is not of a minor nature, or where the facts alleged in the complaint cannot be satisfactorily proven or disproved (whatever the matter of the complaint), s/he shall take appropriate independent legal advice under provisions ensuring the Clerk’s independence and act in accordance with advice thereby received.
(ii) Complaints Against an Individual Member of the Governing Body (or Group of Members):
The Clerk to the Governing Body, if not the addressee, shall be informed immediately in the event that a complaint is received by an individual governor and shall be passed the original of any written communication received from the complainant. The governor or governors receiving the complaint shall not discuss it with any person (including any other member of the Governing Body whether or not the subject of the complaint, or the complainant) other than the Clerk.
If a written complaint is received by the Clerk, whether directly, or as a result of guidance given to the complainant, s/he shall take the following actions:
a) if the complaint relates to a group of members of the Governing Body, the Clerk shall, having regard to the matter and the circumstances of the complaint, determine whether to proceed under the provisions relating to a complaint against the Governing Body as a whole (as set out in (i) above) or under the provisions set out below, and may take appropriate independent legal advice to inform her/his decision;
b) If acting under these provisions, the Clerk shall advise the Chair of the Governing Body (or the Vice Chair of the Governing Body, if the Chair is the subject of the complaint) of the nature of the complaint and the identity of the complainant (unless revealing the latter would be prejudicial to any subsequent investigation), and shall assist the Chair or Vice Chair to carry out such investigations as are necessary to establish the truth of the facts alleged in the complaint, and shall report the outcome to the complainant.
If, resulting from the investigation, it appears that there are matters and circumstances requiring further examination, the Clerk shall convene an extraordinary meeting of the Governing Body (excluding the member or members who are the subject of the complaint) within seven calendar days, or as soon as practicable thereafter, the sole business of which shall be to consider the complaint and authorise its further investigation by an appointed panel of members from among those present to consist of not less than three members, which shall not include the Chair of the Governing Body – or Vice Chair if acting in place of the Chair - or the Principal. The Clerk shall also be appointed to advise the panel, and shall be present at all its deliberations.
In the event that both the Chair and the Vice Chair are subjects of the complaint, the Clerk shall convene an extraordinary meeting of the Governing Body (excluding the members who are the subject of the complaint) within seven calendar days, or as soon as practicable thereafter, the sole business of which shall be to appoint a Chair of the meeting and consider the complaint and authorise its further investigation by an appointed panel of members from among those present to consist of not less than three members, which shall not include the Principal. The Clerk shall also be appointed to advise the panel, and shall be present at all its deliberations.
If the panel, having carried out an investigation, is satisfied that on the balance of probabilities the complaint is not well-founded, the Clerk to the Corporation will report that conclusion to the complainant and the panel will take no further action. However, they shall inform the members of the Corporation of the facts established as a result of the investigation, the conclusion reached that no further action is required and its reasons.
Only if the complainant provides additional information giving rise to a reasonable presumption that there is something more to examine will the panel make any further investigation of the complaint.
If however the panel, having carried out the investigation, is satisfied that on the balance of probabilities the complaint is well-founded, or that the facts alleged in the complaint cannot on the balance of probabilities be satisfactorily proven or disproved, they shall take the following actions:
- where, in the judgement of the panel, the complaint is well-founded but the matter complained of is of a minor nature (e.g. an unintended breach of procedure having no significant consequences and/or bringing no personal advantage to any member or members of the Governing Body or their connected persons), the Chair of the panel shall propose remedial action to the next meeting of the Governing Body (or to the Chair of the Governing Body under Chair’s Action to the extent permitted under Standing Orders) and shall, via the Clerk, advise the complainant of the remedial action proposed and its outcome;
- where, in the judgement of the panel, the complaint is well-founded and the matter complained of is not of a minor nature, or where the facts alleged in the complaint cannot be satisfactorily proven or disproved (whatever the matter of the complaint), the panel shall take appropriate legal advice and act in accordance with advice thereby received. If required, the Clerk to the Governing Body may also take independent legal advice in the matter.
- Members of the Governing Body adhering strictly to these procedures do not put themselves at risk of an action for defamation. In particular, members are advised that restricting discussion of any allegations giving rise to a complaint against the Governing Body or any of its members to the Clerk to the Governing Body (who is the proper officer to receive formal complaints against the Governing Body) will safeguard them from the possibility of adverse consequences in this regard.
(iii) Complaints Against the Clerk to the Corporation:
These shall be dealt with under the provisions relating to the Special Committee or, if arising from the conduct of an election for nomination to membership of the Governing Body, from those set out in the relevant Standing Order.
Records
Records detailing the nature of complaints raised through the formal Complaints Procedure, the Governing Body’s response, any action taken and the reasons for that action will be kept on a confidential basis and retained in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 which requires release of certain data to individuals on their request, though in appropriate circumstances information may be withheld (for example to protect a witness).
Availability of this Document
A printed copy of this document shall be made available without charge to any member of the public on request, and the document will be maintained on the College website.
Rights of Complaints
Nothing set out in this document shall infringe, nor is intended to infringe, the right of a member of the public to raise a matter of public concern in an appropriate way. In particular, where a complainant is dissatisfied with the manner in which a complaint is dealt with by the Governing Body, whether informally, under the above procedure or in breach of it, or is dissatisfied with the policy and procedure herein set out, s/he shall have the unrestricted right to make representations to the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (or successor appointee) or such other person or body as the latter may from time to time prescribe, or to an appropriate member of Parliament.
The defence of public interest would be available in the event of any action for defamation brought against a complainant by an individual member or members of the Governing Body in the matter of a complaint made in good faith alleging facts which are subsequently established on the balance of probabilities to be untrue. However, in the instance of complaints which are made recklessly, maliciously or for any motive other than the public interest such a defence would be unlikely to be available.
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