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Complaints procedure

We are committed to delivering an efficient, high-quality public service.

We aim to provide prompt, courteous and helpful advice to all who approach us. We are always keen to hear the views of our customers and partners about our performance.

When dealing with complaints, CABE seeks to:

  • ensure that making a complaint is as easy as possible
  • deal with complaints promptly, politely and proportionately
  • include in our response an apology, where we have got things wrong, an explanation of the position, or information on any actions taken, etc
  • learn from complaints and use them to improve our service.

How to make a complaint

If your complaint is about a specific area of CABE's work and you know the member of staff responsible, please contact them direct. This will give them the opportunity to explain what actions have been taken and to try to resolve the matter with you. If you would prefer, you can ask the member of staff for the name of their line manager and direct your complaint to him/her.

If your complaint is of a general nature, or you are unsure who to contact, please send your complaint to the head of corporate governance (contact details below).

You can make a complaint in writing by post, fax, email or by telephone. Please provide a day-time telephone number where we may contact you if you would find a telephoned response convenient. If you are emailing but would prefer to receive a response by letter please provide a postal address.

What happens next

We aim to acknowledge your complaint within five days and provide a response within 20 working days. If it is not possible to give you a full reply within this time - for instance because a detailed investigation is required - we will give you an interim response and let you know when you can expect a reply.

We hope that our first response to your complaint will resolve the issue however, if you are unhappy with our reply, or need further help, you can write to CABE's head of corporate governance, who has responsibility for complaints and who will:

  • acknowledge the complaint within five days
  • record the complaint
  • work with the relevant directors and chief executive to consider the issues afresh and to try to resolve them
  • issue a further response within 20 working days.

The contact details for CABE’s head of corporate governance are below.

Review by the Parliamentary Ombudsman

If you remain unhappy with our response, you can direct your complaint (via your MP) to the Parliamentary Ombudsman. The Ombudsman undertakes independent investigations into complaints against government departments and a range of public bodies. Contact details for the Parliamentary Ombudsman are given below.

Freedom of information complaints

If you have submitted a request under the Freedom of Information Act and are unhappy with the way in which CABE has handled it, you may ask for an internal review. The internal review will be conducted by the director of resources and will involve your request being considered afresh. The findings of the director of resources will be reviewed by the chair of CABE before being sent to you.
CABE aims to conduct internal reviews within the following deadlines:

  1. Simple reviews: within 20 working days
  2. Complex reviews (involving large volumes of information and/or multiple exemptions): within 30 working days.

If we are unable to keep to these deadlines, we will let you know and give you a revised deadline.

If you would like to request an internal review, please contact CABE’s head of corporate governance: contact details below.

If you are not happy with the outcome of the internal review, you may refer your complaint to the Information Commissioner for further consideration.

Contact details for the Information Commissioner are below.

Contact details

Head of corporate governance
CABE
1 Kemble Street
London
WC2B 4AN
Telephone: 020 7070 6799
Fax: 020 7070 6777

Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545 745 (helpline)
Fax: 01625 545 510

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London SW1P 4QP
Complaints Helpline Tel: 0345 015 4033
Email: phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk