Tell Us What Happened
Explain the issue clearly and include the relevant dates or events where possible.
Our Commitment
Right First Time UK welcomes complaints, concerns and constructive feedback. Complaints can help identify mistakes, improve information, strengthen safeguarding and make our services more accountable.
Policy Information
Make a Complaint
If your complaint is about Right First Time UK, its website, information, conduct, activities, volunteers, directors, campaigns or services, use the complaints form below.
Purpose of This Policy
This policy explains how people can raise concerns about Right First Time UK and how we aim to review those concerns.
We want complaints to be handled in a way that is:
- Fair and impartial
- Respectful and accessible
- Clear and proportionate
- Focused on facts and evidence
- Protective of safeguarding and confidentiality
- Open to learning and improvement
What You Can Complain About
You may complain about matters including:
- Information published on the website
- Incorrect, unclear, misleading or outdated content
- The way an enquiry or concern has been handled
- Conduct by someone acting on behalf of Right First Time UK
- Accessibility or inclusion concerns
- Safeguarding concerns connected with our activity
- Campaign, fundraising or public-engagement activity
- Privacy, data-handling or communication concerns
- Failure to follow a published policy or procedure
Complaints About Other Organisations
This Complaints Policy is for complaints about Right First Time UK itself. If your complaint is about a council, government department, Child Maintenance Service, school, NHS service, employer, court, police force or another organisation, you should normally use that organisation's own complaints or review process.
Right First Time UK may provide general information and signposting about external complaint routes, but we cannot decide complaints on behalf of another organisation.
How to Make a Complaint
Tell Us What You Are Complaining About
Identify the page, activity, decision, communication or conduct that concerns you.
Tell Us What Would Help
Explain the correction, response, review or other outcome you are asking us to consider.
Useful Information to Include
- Your name and contact details if you want a reply
- A short factual summary
- Relevant dates
- Links to the relevant website page
- Copies of relevant communications or evidence where necessary
- The outcome you are seeking
Do not send passwords, full bank details, security answers or unnecessary sensitive personal information.
How We Aim to Handle Complaints
Complaints should be reviewed fairly and on their individual facts. Depending on the issue, this may include checking website content, reviewing communications, considering relevant records, speaking to people involved or checking whether a published policy was followed.
We Aim To
- Acknowledge and review complaints as soon as reasonably practicable
- Keep the complainant informed where further time or information is needed
- Consider relevant evidence rather than assumptions
- Correct factual errors where appropriate
- Identify learning or service improvements where a complaint highlights a wider issue
- Explain the outcome in clear language where a response is provided
Possible Outcomes
A complaint may result in one or more of the following:
- An explanation
- A correction or update to website information
- An apology where appropriate
- A change to a process or procedure
- Safeguarding action where necessary
- Further internal review
- No further action where the complaint is not upheld or is outside our role
Safeguarding and Urgent Concerns
Complaints involving safety, abuse, exploitation, threats, children, vulnerable adults or other safeguarding concerns may need to be handled differently from an ordinary service complaint.
Where there is an immediate risk of serious harm, safety takes priority over the normal complaints process.
Immediate danger: call 999. Do not wait for a website complaint response.
READ SAFEGUARDING INFORMATION
Confidentiality, Privacy and Fairness
Complaint information should be handled carefully and only used or shared where necessary and lawful.
People who are the subject of a complaint should also be treated fairly. We will not automatically assume that an allegation is proven simply because it has been made.
Anonymous Complaints
Anonymous complaints may still be considered where enough information is provided to understand and review the concern. However, anonymity can sometimes limit our ability to clarify details or provide a response.
WHISTLE-BLOWER SAFE PLACEUnreasonable, Abusive or Repetitive Contact
We want people to be able to raise difficult concerns. Criticism, disagreement or persistence will not by itself make a complaint unreasonable.
However, Right First Time UK may take proportionate steps where communications become threatening, abusive, discriminatory, deliberately disruptive or repeatedly raise the same issue without meaningful new information.
Any restrictions should be used carefully and should not prevent genuine safeguarding or serious new concerns from being considered.
Learning From Complaints
Complaints are not only about resolving individual concerns. They can also identify wider problems.
Where appropriate, learning may be used to:
- Correct or improve website information
- Improve accessibility
- Strengthen policies and procedures
- Improve safeguarding practice
- Improve communication and signposting
- Reduce the risk of the same problem happening again
Related Policies & Contact
Ready to Make a Complaint?
Use the dedicated complaints form so your complaint can be submitted in a structured way.