We aim to resolve complaints quickly and informally. We can only consider complaints, however, which relate to matters of administration, and cannot consider complaints which relate to policy decisions.
Complaints can be made either by telephone, or by writing to Corporate Governance at the TDA, 151 Buckingham Palace Road, London, SW1W 9SZ or via e-mail to complaints@tda.gov.uk.
What happens next?
- People who submit a complaint (complainants) will be asked to say what they want us to do about the matter concerned.
- Any complaint which hasn't been resolved within five working days will be acknowledged. The complainant will be informed how the complaint will be dealt with and whether this will be on a formal or informal basis. We aim to resolve such complaints within 15 working days.
- While a complaint remains unresolved, we will ensure that the complainant knows what is happening and why.
- All formal complaints will be channelled through the head of Corporate Governance, who will refer them to the appropriate director.
- The director will conduct a review of the matter and the results of the review will normally be made available to the complainant within 15 working days. However, if the time needed is more than 15 days, an estimate will be made of how long is required and the complainant will be informed.
- If the complainant remains dissatisfied, or if the director has already been involved in the matter, the complaint will be referred to the chief executive of the TDA. The chief executive will arrange for a further review to be carried out in the light of the information available. He will then consider that review, and inform the complainant of the outcome in writing, normally within 15 working days.
- In cases where the chief executive has been personally involved in the matter which has been complained about, this further review will be carried out by the chair of the TDA.
- In cases in which the chair has been involved in the matter, the chief executive will determine how the complaint should be handled. This will depend on the nature of the complaint.
- Where the complainant remains dissatisfied, they may refer the complaint to the external reviewer.
Complaint period
We will only review complaints received within a 12 month period of the date of the original incident. Exceptionally, complaints will be accepted after this time if the complainant can show a valid reason for the delay in submitting the complaint.
All complaints will be logged by the head of Corporate Governance and their results will be recorded. An annual summary report on complaints received, and how they have been dealt with, is included in our annual report (PDF 1MB).
