Our Policy for Complaints Procedure
This policy is publicly available (on our website and in the policies folder at the Centre).
We try to make the Buddhist Centre a welcoming place for you. But if you have a concern, please let us know. We will attempt to resolve this to everyone's best interest.
Confidentiality
We will treat your complaint as confidential and any communication, including our response to your complaint, will be subject to the Data Protection Act.
Approaching us informally with a complaint.
If you can, please talk to a member of our team at your earliest opportunity. You can expect a friendly and cooperative response. This is the first step in resolving a situation. Please tell them the nature and circumstances of your concern and any response you would like to see. We may be able to resolve the situation straight away to your satisfaction.
If the member of our team cannot help you at that point (due to the issue being beyond their remit or believing there is a conflict of interest) please ask them to make a note of your complaint. Include your contact details if you would like further communication with us - you may wish to remain anonymous. They will convey your concerns to someone more able to respond. In some cases, we may treat your concern as a formal complaint.
If you wish, we will let you know the outcome of your complaint. Depending on the situation, this may take a while but we will endeavour to keep you informed of our progress.
If, for any reason, you are, or feel, unable to talk to a member of staff, please consider making a formal complaint.
Approaching us with a formal complaint
All formal complaints, including those submitted anonymously, will receive serious consideration. Our aim is to resolve complaints quickly and, as far as possible, to the satisfaction of all involved.
To submit a formal complaint, please contact the Centre Chair (currently Maitridarshin) or Secretary to the Trustees (currently Akasati):
• by email to Maitridarshin maitridarshin1@gmail.com or Akasati, akasati@gmail.com
• by post to Maitridarshin or Akasati,
c/o Brighton Buddhist Centre, 17 Tichborne St, Brighton, BN1 1UR
- this is to allow for a written record of communications. Please include the word ‘complaint’ in your subject heading to ensure we pick up on your message promptly.
Please include the following in your complaint:
• Your name and contact details – unless you wish to remain anonymous
• As much information as possible about the facts of your complaint
• What you felt was unsatisfactory
• And what you believe we could do to address your concerns.
You will receive a reply, if possible, within 7 days to arrange further communication. This can be continued by post or email, or by arranging a meeting in person or by Zoom call.
The person handling your complaint will contact you to discuss and/or confirm the details. They will then investigate your complaint. This may involve being in touch with others affected by your complaint. If necessary, we will refer your complaint to the next available trustees meeting. We may also need to seek specialist advice. We will keep you informed if this is the case.
You can expect a decision within 15 working days of confirming the details of your complaint but if any delay occurs, we will let you know. Our decision will include an explanation of our findings as far as possible within the constraints of confidentiality and the Data Protection Act.
Further action
We believe any complaint is an opportunity to improve the functioning of the Centre. Following the outcome of a complaint we will consider the need for any further action. This may include advice to staff or changes to our protocols. We also consider any statutory reporting to the Charity Commission or the police.
Anonymity
You have the right to anonymity. We will look into all the details available and act accordingly. Everyone has the right to complain about any aspect of our work that has affected them. We will also call anyone to account for their actions where they have caused harm or distress. And we will act to protect anyone from ill-intentioned allegations.
Advice to our staff
We ask you to address any complaint in a friendly and cooperative manner. If this is difficult, for example, through conflict of interest or being the focus of complaint, please refer to someone else.
Consider if you can resolve the situation within your job description. For example, a complaint about accessibility that needs rearranging of furniture. Or a change to admin procedures within your control.
If there is a dispute, can you resolve it yourself or need to involve others such as mitra convenors?
If you need to refer a complaint, please take notes that are as complete as possible.
Policy review
This policy approved by the trustees on 19/02/24
Date for next review is 19/02/27
Communicating with us
We wish for you to feel comfortable with the means of communication. Therefore, you may choose to communicate by post or by email. You may also prefer to discuss face-to-face with the person handling your complaint. You can do this through a Zoom call or an in-person meeting. We wish to maintain a clear written record of communications. This is automatic through post or email. Following an in-person meeting we will arrange for an agreed written note to be made of any important points or decisions arising.
How we respond to your complaint
Stages in complaint handling:
1. You submit a complaint.
2. We contact you to discuss and /or confirm that we have understood your complaint.
3. We investigate your complaint. We will do this as thoroughly as we can. We may need to talk with other individuals or organisations involved. We will maintain confidentiality throughout.
4. We make a decision regarding your complaint.
5. We submit our decision to you.
6. You a) accept our decision or b) decide to appeal, in which case we will respond to cases individually, which may involve passing them on to a suitable third party.
