wao.gov.uk Complaints Submission : Wales Audit Office

Organization : Wales Audit Office
Type of Facility : Complaints Submission
Country: Wales

Website : http://www.audit.wales/

Complaints Submission :

Complaints give us an opportunity to put things right when mistakes have been made and to improve the quality of our work. We take complaints seriously, will investigate them thoroughly and honestly, and will reply to you as quickly as possible.

Related : Public Services Ombudsman For Wales Making a Complaint : www.statusin.org/9264.html

The Auditor General for Wales aims for staff and appointed auditors to carry out their work to the highest professional standards, so needs to know whether you have any concerns or have not been satisfied with any area of our work.

What you can complain about:
We will consider complaints about the following matters, as long as you make the complaint within six months of the event taking place or being brought to your attention.
** The way that the Auditor General carries out his legal duties – for example, appointing auditors and publishing reports.
** The work of Wales Audit Office staff and appointed auditors, including their failures to follow the Code of Audit and Inspection Practice.
** Goods and services provided by the Auditor General – for example, publications, conferences and events.
** Whether the processes followed by Wales Audit Office staff and appointed auditors, and anyone involved with any aspect of the Auditor General’s work, are reasonable.
** The behaviour of Wales Audit Office staff and appointed auditors.

We cannot investigate complaints about the following:
** The policies and decisions made by, or the services provided by, organisations audited by the Wales Audit Office or by auditors appointed by the Auditor General. You should refer these complaints to the organisation itself, as it should have its own complaints procedure.
** Poor or inefficient management (known as ‘maladministration’) by audited organisations, which causes someone inconvenience or puts them at a disadvantage. You should refer these complaints to the Public Service Ombudsman for Wales.
** If you disagree with any decisions that the Auditor General or his appointed auditors have made while carrying out their legal duties. These decisions can only be reviewed by the courts.

How to complain:
If you are not satisfied with the work of Wales Audit Office staff or auditors appointed by the Auditor General, you should first give the relevant member of staff or appointed auditor the opportunity to deal with it. If you are not sure who to contact, or if you are not satisfied with the way your complaint has been dealt with by a member of Wales Audit Office staff or the appointed auditor, please contact the Complaints Investigation Manager as follows.
** Phone: 029 2032 0500
** E-mail: complaints@wao.gov.uk
** Website: http://www.wao.gov.uk/

Although you can discuss complaints with our staff, we prefer them to be made in writing. You can write your complaints in Welsh or English.

When writing to us, please tell us:
** your address and phone number; and
** if you have any special needs, and we will do our best to meet them.

Our commitment to dealing with complaints:
When we deal with complaints we will be polite, helpful, positive and fair to both the person complaining and the person (or people) being complained about. We will consider complaints carefully, fairly, as quickly as possible, and in an open and honest way.

How we deal with complaints:
We will acknowledge your complaint within five days of receiving it. If we cannot investigate your complaint, we will write to you explaining why. If possible, we will suggest another organisation that may be able to help you.

If we can investigate your complaint, we will contact you to explain who will deal with it (an investigating officer) and when to expect a reply. We will consider complaints carefully and, if the matter is straightforward, we will usually reply within 20 working days. If we need to carry out a more detailed investigation we may need to take longer, in which case we will keep you informed.

If the investigating officer decides that your complaint is valid, we will send you an apology in writing, along with details of any other steps we think are necessary in the circumstances, including what we will do to prevent the problem happening again. If we decide that your complaint is not valid, we will write to you explaining why.

If you are not satisfied because you believe that the investigating officer has not dealt with your complaint in line with the Wales Audit Office’s procedure, you should contact the Complaints Investigation Manager.

The Complaints Investigation Manager will arrange for your case to be reconsidered, by an independent person if appropriate, as long as you provide evidence to show why you believe that the investigating officer has not dealt with your complaint properly. The independent person will recommend an appropriate course of action to the Auditor General and send you details. The Auditor General will consider this to be the final stage of the complaints process.

If you provide new information that was not previously available, the Complaints Investigation Manager will consider this information and take appropriate action.

However, the Complaints Investigation Manager will not get involved in ongoing correspondence with you if you repeat the same complaint over and over again. The Auditor General will not respond to complaints that are not genuine or are made to cause trouble, or that are in some way an abuse of the complaints process.

Click here for The Auditor General for Wales’ policy for dealing with unacceptable actions by complainants, correspondents or others making contact with the Wales Audit Office.

We will treat in confidence all communications with the Auditor General, as far as the law allows. In line with the Data Protection Act 1998, we will protect any personal information that you provide. However, we may need to reveal the content of your complaint in answer to requests made to us under the Freedom of Information Act, the Environmental Information Regulations or some other legal directions.

Contact details:
Public Services Ombudsman For Wales
1 Ffordd yr Hen Gae
Pencoed
CF35 5LJ
Tel: 01656 641150
E-mail: ask@ombudsman-wales.org.uk
Fax: 01656 641199
Website: www.ombudsman-wales.org