Kent Fire and Rescue Service
Customer Feedback Policy

Receiving feedback

24. It is essential that all feedback is accurately compiled to ensure a true picture of customer feedback can be gained and reported in accordance with this Policy. 
25. All complaints, however received, must be forwarded to [email protected] as soon as practically possible, preferably on the same day as they are received. No correspondence should be entered into by the recipient. 
26. A verbal complaint received at an operational incident will be dealt with under the direction of the Incident Commander in the first instance and at an appropriate time. A note of the complaint shall be emailed to [email protected] at the earliest opportunity. 
27. Feedback which is not deemed to be a complaint, for example comments and compliments shall also be forwarded to [email protected] and logged. Feedback other than complaints may be compiled and submitted periodically. 

Acknowledgment 

28. Complaints should be dealt with as soon as practicable and an acknowledgment shall be sent to the complainant within three working days. This is undertaken centrally and not by the recipient of the complaint.
29. The person receiving negative feedback can sympathise with the complainant but shall not admit liability or blame on behalf of the Authority. The recipient should avoid entering into written correspondence. At this stage the complaint is only an allegation which will require proper investigation. 

Investigation of Complaints

30. On receipt of a complaint an Investigating Officer shall be appointed. The Investigating Officer is the person responsible for dealing with a complaint and ensuring that the procedure is followed. If the complaint refers to the actions of a member of staff, the Investigating Officer will always be a more senior officer. 
31. Where appropriate the Investigating Officer shall send a letter or email to the complainant setting out the details of the complaint to ensure the nature of the complaint has been correctly understood, this is particularly important if the complaint was made verbally.
32. Where feedback requires more detailed investigation it should normally be dealt with within twenty working days. However, if this is not possible, the complainant should be kept informed of progress after each three week period. 
33. If the Investigating Officer is unable to gather evidence, for example if the complainant does not co-operate with the investigation, then the available evidence will be assessed to determine whether the complaint is founded, unfounded or partially founded. 

Notification of outcome 

34. On completion of any investigation, a letter or email should be sent by the Investigating Officer to the complainant confirming the action taken by the Authority. This will confirm whether the complaint was founded, unfounded or partially founded.  
35. If the complaint is founded and it is identified that a change to the Authority’s policies, procedures or training programme is required, then the issue will be referred to the Head of Section as appropriate for discussion.  

Right to appeal 

36. Complainants have the right to appeal about the outcome of a complaint. Appeals must be made within 20 working days of the original response to the complaint being sent to the complainant. Any request for an appeal outside this timeframe will not be processed.  
37. The complainant shall be encouraged to make any such appeal in writing, and if necessary will be offered advice or support in order to do so. Failure to put an appeal in writing does not remove the right of appeal.
38. When received, the appeal will be forwarded to [email protected]. An appeals officer, who was not involved in investigating the original complaint, will be appointed. Their role is not to reinvestigate the complaint, but to confirm that the Authority’s Policy has been correctly applied. However, as part of the appeals process, new information which may have a bearing on how the complaint was interpreted may come to light. In such cases, the outcome of the complaint should be reviewed.  
39. The outcome of the appeal will be notified to the complainant within 20 working days of the appeal being received. At this stage, the appeal may be declared as founded and the original finding of the complaint will be overturned. Alternatively, the original finding may be upheld. At this stage, the Authority may also declare the complaint vexatious.