Complaints Handling Procedure

The Victims and Survivors Service (VSS) is committed to providing high-quality services to all victims and survivors. We value complaints and use information from them to help us improve our services.

If something goes wrong or you are dissatisfied with our services, please tell us. This page describes our complaints procedure and how to make a complaint. It also tells you about how we will handle your complaint and what you can expect from us.

1. What is a complaint?

We regard a complaint as “an expression of dissatisfaction by one or more members of the public about our action or lack of action, or about the standard of service provided by us or on our behalf”.

2. What can I complain about?

You can complain about things like:

Failure or refusal to provide a service or support
Inadequate quality or standard of service or support, or an unreasonable delay in providing a service or support
Dissatisfaction with one of our policies or its impact on the individual
Failure to properly apply law, procedure or guidance when delivering services
Failure to follow the appropriate administrative process
Conduct, treatment by or attitude of a member of staff
A concern about the actions or service of an organisation who is funded by VSS to deliver services. VSS will usually ask that the complaint policy/procedure of the funded organisation is exhausted in the first instance
Disagreement with a decision, (except where there is a statutory procedure for challenging that decision, or an established appeals process within VSS).

3. What can’t I complain about?

There are some things we can’t deal with through our complaints handling procedure. These include:

A routine first-time request for a service
Issues that are in court or have already been heard by a court or a tribunal (if you decide to take legal action, you should let us know as the complaint cannot then be considered under this process)
Disagreement with a decision where there is a statutory procedure for challenging that decision (such as for Freedom of Information and Subject Access Requests)
A request for information under Data Protection or Freedom of Information legislation and requests for reviews of decisions taken under these statutory regimes
A grievance by a staff member or a grievance relating to employment or staff recruitment
A concern raised internally by a member of staff (which was not about a service they received, such as raising a concern)
A concern about a child or an adult’s safety (concerns like this will be dealt with under the VSS Safeguarding Policy)
An attempt to reopen a previously concluded complaint or to have a complaint reconsidered where we have already given our final decision
A concern about the actions or service of a different organisation, where we have no involvement in the issue (except where the other organisation is delivering services on our behalf)
Challenges to decisions made via formal decision-making channels. For example an organisation dissatisfied with a funding decision but not with any element of the process that led to the decision.

If other procedures or rights of appeal can help you resolve your concerns, we will give information and advice to help you.

4. Who can complain?

Anyone who receives, requests or is directly affected by our services, or a service funded by us, can make a complaint to us.

This includes the representative of someone who is dissatisfied with our service (for example, a relative, friend, advocate or adviser). If you are making a complaint on someone else’s behalf, you will normally need their written consent. Please read the section Getting help to make your complaint.

5. Responsibilities of complainants

As a service user of VSS, you have the right to expect the best possible service. If we fall short, you have the right to complain. When you complain, we ask you to follow these guiding principles:

Provide adequate details of your complaint
Set out clearly the cause for dissatisfaction
Provide accurate details and supporting correspondence or other relevant supporting evidence
If there has been a delay in submitting your complaint explain the cause of that delay
Explain what you believe to be a satisfactory outcome
Treat our staff with good manners, politeness and civility at all times
Accept that we will act fairly and promptly in dealing with your complaint
Be reasonable and open minded and listen to reasonable explanations
Be realistic. It may not always be possible to achieve the outcome you want.

6. How do I complain?

You can complain in person at our office, by phone, in writing or by email.

When complaining, please tell us:

Your full name and contact details
As much as you can about the complaint
What has gone wrong; and
What outcome you are seeking.

For contact methods, go to Our Contact Details.

We monitor our social media channels and take concerns raised seriously. However, due to the nature of social media these platforms are not always suitable for handling complaints.

If you raise a complaint through our social media channels, we will acknowledge your concern and direct you to our formal complaints process where appropriate. For complaints requiring investigation or containing personal information, we will ask you to contact us through our official complaints channels to ensure your issue is handled securely and thoroughly.

For contact methods, go to Our Contact Details.

7. How long do I have to make a complaint?

Normally, you must make your complaint within six months of:

the event you want to complain about; or
finding out that you have a reason to complain.

In exceptional circumstances, we may be able to accept a complaint after the time limit. If you feel that the time limit should not apply to your complaint, please tell us why.

8. What happens when I have complained?

We will always tell you who is dealing with your complaint and provide contact details. Our complaints procedure has two stages, Frontline Response and Investigation.

Stage 1: Frontline response

We aim to respond to complaints quickly (where possible, when you first tell us about the issue). This could mean an on-the-spot apology and explanation if something has clearly gone wrong, or immediate action to resolve the problem.

We will give you our decision at Stage 1 in five working days or less, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

If you are not satisfied with the response we give at Stage 1, we will tell you what you can do next. If you choose to, you can take your complaint to Stage 2. You must normally ask us to consider your complaint at Stage 2 either:

Within six months of the event you want to complain about or finding out that you have a reason to complain; or
Within 30 days of receiving your Stage 1 response from us (if this is later).

In exceptional circumstances, we may be able to accept a Stage 2 complaint after the time limit. If you feel that the time limit should not apply to your complaint, please tell us why.

Stage 2: Investigation

Stage 2 deals with two types of complaint: those that have not been resolved at Stage 1 and those that clearly require in-depth investigation, and so are handled at this stage following discussion and agreement with you. If you do not wish your complaint to be handled at Stage 1, you can ask us to handle it at Stage 2 instead.

When using Stage 2:

We will acknowledge escalation of your complaint to Stage 2 within three working days
We will confirm our understanding of the complaint we will investigate and what outcome you are looking for
We will try to resolve your complaint where we can (in some cases we may suggest using an alternative complaint resolution approach, such as mediation); and
Where we cannot resolve your complaint, we will give you a full response as soon as possible, normally within 20 working days.

If our investigation will take longer than 20 working days, we will tell you. We will tell you our revised time limits and keep you updated on progress.

9. What if I’m still dissatisfied?

If you remain dissatisfied after we have given your our final decision, you have the right to ask the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman (NIPSO) to consider your complaint.

10. NIPSO

NIPSO is the final stage for complaints about the majority of public services in Northern Ireland. This includes complaints about us. NIPSO is an independent organisation that investigates complaints. The service provided by NIPSO is free. It is not an advocacy or support service (but there are other organisations who can help you with advocacy or support).

If you remain dissatisfied when you have a final response from us, you can ask NIPSO to look at your complaint. NIPSO generally expect complaints to be brought to them within six months since you received correspondence from us informing you that the complaints handling procedure is complete and of your right to refer your complaint to NIPSO.

NIPSO will generally ask you to provide details of your complaint and a copy of our final response to your complaint.

Online: You can read more about NIPSO and how to make a complaint on their website NIPSO (link opens in new window). You can fill in NIPSO’s complaints form (link opens in new window).

Email: You can contact NIPSO by email via nipso@nipso.org.uk

Phone: You can call NIPSO on their Freephone 0800 34 34 24.

Post: You can contact NIPSO via their freepost address:

FREEPOST NIPSO
The Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman
33 Wellington Place
Belfast
BT1 6HN

If you would like to visit NIPSO in person, the office is open from 10am – 4pm Monday to Friday. An appointment is recommended but not essential.

If NIPSO cannot investigate your complaint and your complaint requires an alternative route for independent review, NIPSO will tell you and provide you with the relevant contact details.

You may wish to get independent support or advocacy to help you progress your complaint. See ‘Getting help to make my complaint’.

11. Getting help to make a complaint

We understand that you may be unable or reluctant to make a complaint yourself. We accept complaints from the representative of a person who is dissatisfied with our service. We can take complaints from a friend, relative, or an advocate, if you have given them your consent to complain on your behalf.

We are committed to making our service easy to use for all members of the community. In line with our statutory equality duties, we will always ensure that reasonable adjustments are made to help you access and use our services. If you have trouble putting your complaint in writing, or want this information in another language or format, such as large font, or Braille, please tell us in person, telephone or email.

We can also signpost you to organisations who can provide independent support to you to make the complaint.

12. Our contact details

You can submit a complaint to us using the following channels:

By email to complaints@vssni.org
By telephone on 028 9027 9100
By post

Our address is:
Complaints
Victims and Survivors Service
First floor, Seatem House
28-32 Alfred Street
Belfast
BT2 8EN

Summary of our Complaints Procedure

Complaints procedure

You can make your complaint in person, by phone, by email or in writing. We have a two-stage complaints procedure. We will always try to deal with your complaint quickly. But if it is clear that the matter will need in-depth investigation, we will talk to you about this and keep you updated on our progress.

Stage 1: Frontline response

We will always try to respond to your complaint quickly, within five working days if we can.

If you are dissatisfied with our response, you can ask us to consider your complaint at Stage 2.

Stage 2: Investigation

We will look at your complaint at this stage if you are dissatisfied with our response at Stage 1. We also look at some complaints at this stage, if following discussion and agreement with you, it is clear that an in-depth investigation is needed.

We will acknowledge your complaint within three working days.

We will confirm the issues of complaint to be investigated and what you want to achieve.

We will investigate the complaint and give you our decision as soon as possible. This will be after no more than 20 working days unless there is clearly a good reason for needing more time.

Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman (NIPSO)

If, after receiving our final decision on your complaint, you remain dissatisfied with our decision or the way we have handled your complaint, you can ask NIPSO to consider it. NIPSO will assess whether there is evidence of service failure or maladministration not identified by us which requires further investigation. NIPSO will signpost you to alternative independent reviewers and provide contact details (where relevant).

Privacy Notice

For information about how VSS collects and uses personal information, including how to contact our Data Protection Officer, please see our Privacy Notice (link opens in new window).

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