Complaints Policy

Review Date: 17.01.2022 

Reviewed Annually 

Dragonfly Leisure is committed to providing a high-quality service to everyone it deals with. To do this, we need you to give us feedback about our service and to tell us when we get things wrong. We want to help you resolve your complaint as quickly as possible. 

We treat as a complaint any expression of dissatisfaction with our service which calls for a response. We listen to your complaints, treat them seriously, and learn from them so that we can continuously improve our service.  

A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction, whether justified or not. 

Our policy covers complaints about: 

• the standard of service we provide 
• the behaviour of our staff 
• any action or lack of action by staff affecting an individual or group 

Our complaints policy does not cover: 

• matters that have already been fully investigated through this complaints procedure 
• anonymous complaints 
• complaints about access to information where procedures and remedies are set out in legislation, eg Freedom of Information Act, Data Protection Act 

Our standards for handling complaints: 

• we treat all complaints seriously, whether they are made by letter, email or verbally 
• you will always treated with courtesy and fairness; likewise we would expect you to be courteous and fair in your dealings with our staff 
• we will treat your complaint in confidence 
• we will deal with your complaint promptly – we will acknowledge receipt of a written complaint within 5 working days and we will send you a full reply within 20 working days of receipt 
• if we cannot send a full reply within 20 working days of receipt we will tell you the reason why and let you know when we will be able to reply in full 

 Confidentiality 

All complaints received will be dealt with confidentially and in accordance with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998. 

How to complain 

We have a 3-stage complaints procedure. At each stage it will help us to resolve your complaint quickly if you can give us as much clear detail as possible, including any documents and correspondence and stating that you are making a complaint in line with our procedure. 

Stage 1 

If you have a complaint about an aspect of our operation, or about the conduct of an individual member of staff, it will often be possible to resolve the problem by simply speaking to the individual concerned and/or their supervisor or Duty Manager. We are committed to open and regular dialogue with all our users and welcome all comments on our services, regardless of whether they are positive or negative.  

Stage 2 

If you are dissatified with the individual staff member’s or Duty Manager’s response then you should contact the relevant site’s General Manager. The majority of complaints will be resolved at this stage.  

Fiona Clark, General Manager, Dragonfly Leisure, Writhlington, Knobsbury Lane, Writhlington, Radstock BA3 3NQ.  

Email: fclark@dragonflyleisure.co.uk    

Paul Cracknell, General Manager, Dragonfly Leisure, Midsomer Norton, Gullock Tyning, Midsomer Norton, BA3 2SY 

Email: pcracknell@dragonflyleisure.co.uk 

Stage 3 

If you are dissatisfied with the general managers response, you can request a review by the CEO. Your request should be sent to the general manager who dealt with your stage 2 request, who will then forward your request to the CEO.  

The CEO has delegated authority, through the Board of Trustees, to decide if a complaint is unfounded and/or has been satisfactorily dealt with. If so, the matter will close at this stage. 

Ofsted Registered Kids Club – In addition to stages 1 – 3 above. 

To comply with Ofsted, any Kids Club complaints will be recorded on a specific kids club incident record sheet. A record of these complaints will be kept and made available for all parents to read. 

If the Play Leader has good reason to believe that the situation has child protection implications, they will inform our Designated Safeguarding Lead who in turn will inform the local Social Services Office, according to the procedures set out in our safeguarding policy. If any party involved in the complaint has good reason to believe that a criminal offence has been committed, then they will contact the police. 

Any formal response to the complaint will be sent to the parent/carer concerned and copied to all relevant members of staff if appropriate. The response will include recommendations for dealing with the complaint and for any amendments to the Club’s policies or procedures emerging from the investigation. 

The Play Leader and or the General Manager will arrange a time to meet the parent/carer concerned and any other relevant individuals, such as members of staff, to discuss the complaint including any response to it. The Play Leader and or General Manager will judge if it is best for all parties to meet together or if individual meetings are more appropriate. 

The Play Leader or General Manager will communicate a detailed response, including any actions to be taken, to both the staff and the parents/carers concerned within 20 working days. 

Timescales for handling a complaint 

Stage 1 – maximum 20 working days 

• acknowledgement within 5 working days 
• full response within 20 working days 

Stage 2 – maximum 20 working days 

• acknowledgement within 5 working days 
• full response within 20 working days 

Extending time limits 

We aim to complete all complaints within the timescales above; however, if a complaint is very complex it may occasionally be necessary to extend the time limit. If this is the case, we will keep you informed of progress with the investigation, the reasons for the delay, and the new deadline. 

Following any stage of the procedure, you will have a maximum of 28 days from the date of the final response to request that your complaint be progressed to the next stage.