Our Complaints Policy
Your Right to Complain
Each year we support over 20,000 victims and witnesses per year. 98% of the people we help have told us that they are very satisfied or satisfied with the service. We pride ourselves in making contact with all victims and witnesses within 48 hours of referral to the service.
We know that we are not perfect and that is why we have a formal complaints process. All formal complaints will be dealt with by the Service Manager and reviewed periodically. In dealing with your complaint, we will treat you with respect, apologise when required and try to identify a positive way forward. We will also ensure that we learn from our mistakes to continuously improve our service.
How to make a complaint
If you have a concern or complaint you can contact us in a number of different ways
Formal Complaints Procedure
Stage 1:
On receipt of your complaint, we will ensure that it is acknowledged in writing within 5 working days.
You will receive a full written response to your complaint within 20 working days.
If we are unable to meet this deadline as investigations are continuing, we will write to you
within 20 days giving you a reason for the delay and letting you know when we will be able to
send a full reply.
Stage 2:
If you are dissatisfied with the response you can write to the Northumbria Police Professional Standards and ask for the handling of your complaint to be reviewed.
Confidentiality
All complaints will be dealt with in confidence and in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulations 2018.
Unreasonable behaviour
All complaints will be dealt with in accordance with this procedure. During this process, staff will not tolerate unreasonable behaviour towards them.
