You can submit a complaint to us through any of the following channels:

·      Email: info@youngdevon.org

·      Our online form below 

·      Phone: 01752 691511

·      In writing: Information Protection Officer, Young Devon, 10 Erme Road, Ivybridge, PL21 0AB

·      Facebook: facebook.com/youngdevonofficial/

We will accept complaints however they are received. You do not need to use our complaint form to raise a concern. If you contact us through any channel (including social media, in person, or by telephone) and your message amounts to a data protection complaint, we will treat it as one.

To help us investigate your complaint as quickly as possible, please tell us:

·      Your name and contact details (so we can respond to you)

·      What happened: a description of the data protection issue

·      When it happened (or when you became aware of it)

·      What you would like us to do about it

The more detail you provide, the faster we can investigate. However, we will not refuse a complaint because it lacks detail. If we need more information, we will ask you.

If you are submitting a complaint on behalf of another person, we will ask you to confirm that you are authorised to act on their behalf before we investigate. This is to protect the data subject's privacy.

If the complaint concerns a child, see section 9 "Complaints involving children" below for how we handle this.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 30 calendar days. The 30-day period begins on the day after we receive your complaint, even if that day falls on a weekend or public holiday. If the 30th day falls on a weekend or public holiday, we will send the acknowledgement on the next working day.

INVESTIGATION

We will begin looking into your complaint from the day we receive it. Our investigation will be reasonable and proportionate to the nature and complexity of the issues you have raised. We will act without undue delay, meaning we will not allow unjustifiable or excessive delays.

KEEPING YOU INFORMED

If our investigation is likely to take longer than expected, we will let you know and explain why. We will keep you updated on progress at reasonable intervals.

OUTCOME

Once our investigation is complete, we will write to you with the outcome. We will explain what we found, what steps we took, and any actions we have taken as a result. We aim to provide the outcome within three months of receiving your complaint, unless exceptional circumstances apply.

Your complaint will be reviewed by Laura Lee, who is our Information Protection Officer and who has the authority to investigate the matter and take appropriate action.

If you are not happy with how we have handled your complaint, you may:

·      Ask us to review our decision. We will consider whether there is any additional information or steps we should take.

·      Lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). The ICO is the UK's independent authority for data protection.

You can contact the ICO at:

·      Website: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint

·      Phone: 0303 123 1113

·      Post: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Under the DUAA, the ICO expects individuals to raise complaints with the organisation first before escalating to the regulator, unless there are exceptional grounds for direct ICO intervention.

We keep a log of all data protection complaints received, including: the date the complaint was received, when we sent the acknowledgement, the details of our investigation, the outcome, and any actions taken as a result. This log is available for inspection by the ICO on request.

Many of our service users are children, some of whom may be care-experienced or have additional support needs. If you're making this complaint for a child or young person, here's what you need to know:

·      We will assess whether the child has sufficient understanding to exercise their rights directly (Gillick competence), and will record who made this assessment and the basis for it.

·      Where a child does not have sufficient understanding, you can complain on their behalf if you're their parent, guardian, or have parental responsibility for them. Where a young person has no parental involvement, or has an advocate or trusted professional supporting them, we will accept a complaint made through that person with the young person's consent.

·      We will provide communications in clear, age-appropriate language, and will offer accessible or easy-read formats where needed.

·      If your complaint raises a safeguarding concern, this will also be referred through our safeguarding procedures, run alongside (not instead of) the complaints process.

·      We follow the ICO's Children's Code, which sets out how organisations should look after children's data.

We may make changes to this Process from time to time, so it's worth checking back every so often. If we make any significant changes to how you can complain or how we handle complaints, we'll let you know through appropriate channels.

This Process is reviewed every year by our Information Protection Officer and trustees.