Complaints Handling Process

An accessible, fair and learning-focused route for resolving concerns.

Document owner: Max Pocock, Lead Consultant Version: 1.0 Issued: 23 July 2026 Review due: 23 July 2027, or earlier after a serious complaint or material legal change Applies to: Complaints about Managed Services Ltd's services, conduct, communications, accessibility, information handling and people acting for it

A complaint is an opportunity to put something right and improve. Managed Services Ltd will make the route easy to use, protect people from retaliation, investigate fairly and explain the outcome.

1. What counts as a complaint

A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction that asks for, or reasonably requires, a response. The person does not need to use the word "complaint" or complete a special form.

Examples include concerns about:

• service quality, delay, communication or failure to follow an agreement;
• conduct by Max Pocock, a separately engaged human specialist, subcontractor or supplier;
• equality, accessibility, harassment or unfair treatment;
• privacy, personal information or a data-protection right;
• safeguarding or safety;
• conflicts of interest, bribery, fraud or other integrity concerns; and
• how an earlier complaint was handled.

A routine service request or request for information is not normally a complaint, but it must be treated as one if dissatisfaction or alleged harm is apparent.

2. How to complain

A complaint can be made verbally or in writing through:

• the contact route in the relevant engagement document, privacy notice, company correspondence or website;
• the normal project or contract contact;
• an authorised representative; or
• an agreed accessible alternative.

The company will not reject a complaint because it was sent to the wrong person or channel. The recipient must forward and record it promptly.

The complainant should provide what they reasonably can: what happened, when, who was involved, the effect, supporting information and the outcome sought. Missing detail will be clarified proportionately and will not be used to create an unnecessary barrier.

3. Service standards

Managed Services Ltd aims to:

• acknowledge a complaint within two business days;
• identify urgent safety, safeguarding, data, legal or service-continuity action immediately;
• provide a substantive outcome within 20 business days; and
• give an update and a revised date if a fair investigation needs longer.

For a data-protection complaint, the company will always meet the legal requirements to provide a complaint route, acknowledge receipt within 30 days, make appropriate enquiries, keep the person informed and communicate the outcome without undue delay.

These targets may be replaced by a stronger contract, regulator or statutory timetable.

4. Principles

Complaints will be handled with:

• accessibility: accept different channels and make reasonable adjustments;
• impartiality: the person complained about will not decide the complaint where an alternative is practicable;
• proportionality: match the investigation to seriousness, risk and evidence;
• fairness: explain the concern, allow relevant people to respond and avoid prejudgment;
• confidentiality: share information only where needed for the process, safety or law;
• timeliness: act without avoidable delay and communicate slippage;
• no retaliation: protect people who complain honestly or support an investigation; and
• learning: record causes, remedies and preventive action.

Anonymous complaints will be considered as far as the available information permits. Anonymity may limit the ability to verify facts or provide a personal outcome.

5. Triage and immediate action

On receipt, the complaint owner will record the date and assess:

• immediate danger, medical need or safeguarding risk;
• continuing harm, service failure or evidence loss;
• personal-data breach or rights request;
• alleged crime, bribery, fraud or serious misconduct;
• contractual notice or reporting duty;
• conflict of interest involving the proposed investigator;
• accessibility or communication need; and
• the outcome and urgency sought.

Immediate safety, containment, evidence preservation or regulatory action will not wait for the ordinary timetable.

If the concern is outside the company's power to determine, the company will explain this and, where appropriate, identify the relevant client, host, regulator, ombudsman, police, local authority or other competent route without pretending to decide another body's jurisdiction.

6. Stage 1 - acknowledge and define

The acknowledgement will:

1. confirm receipt and the complaint owner;
2. summarise the issues as understood;
3. identify any immediate action;
4. state the expected response date;
5. ask only for information reasonably needed;
6. explain relevant confidentiality limits; and
7. provide an accessible contact route.

Where a complaint contains several issues, the company will separate them by route and timetable while maintaining one clear point of contact where possible.

7. Stage 2 - investigate and resolve

The investigator will:

• define the questions to be answered;
• gather proportionate records and accounts;
• preserve original evidence and distinguish fact, interpretation and disputed evidence;
• give the person complained about a fair opportunity to respond;
• consider applicable contract, policy and law;
• keep a decision trail;
• update the complainant where necessary; and
• avoid requesting sensitive information that is not needed.

Where appropriate and agreed, an early practical resolution may be offered without preventing investigation of serious, recurring or systemic issues.

8. Outcome and remedies

The written or otherwise accessible outcome will:

• state each issue considered;
• explain whether it is upheld, partly upheld, not upheld or cannot be determined;
• give a concise reason based on the available evidence;
• explain any apology, correction, re-performance, accessibility measure, refund or other remedy within the company's authority;
• identify preventive or learning action where appropriate;
• state any confidentiality limits on what can be disclosed; and
• explain the review and external escalation routes.

"Not upheld" does not mean the complaint was made in bad faith. Where evidence is inconclusive, the company may still improve a control or communication.

9. Stage 3 - review

A complainant may request a review within 10 business days of the outcome, or later where an adjustment or good reason applies.

The request should identify a material factual error, overlooked evidence, procedural unfairness, conflict of interest or clearly unreasonable outcome. A review is not a complete reinvestigation merely because the outcome is disappointing.

Where practicable, a person not responsible for the original decision will review the specified grounds. For a founder-led business where this is not possible internally, Managed Services Ltd will consider proportionate independent review, the buyer's escalation route or another competent external route.

The review outcome is the end of the company's internal process unless new material evidence or a continuing legal or safety duty requires further action.

10. Specialist complaint routes

Safeguarding

Immediate danger is reported to 999. Other safeguarding concerns are escalated immediately under the Safeguarding Policy and applicable buyer, host and statutory procedure. The ordinary complaints timetable does not delay protective action.

Data protection

Data-protection complaints and linked rights requests are handled under the Privacy and Data Protection Policy and current ICO requirements. The person will be told about their right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office.

Equality and harassment

The company will offer appropriate adjustments, assess ongoing risk and avoid requiring the complainant to confront the person complained about. A concern implicating Max Pocock must have an appropriate outside route.

Bribery, fraud or crime

The company will preserve evidence, avoid tipping off or informal confrontation, manage conflicts and consider the relevant client, police, Serious Fraud Office, regulator or legal route.

11. Complaints involving Max Pocock

Because Managed Services Ltd is founder-led, a complaint may concern the normal complaint owner. In that case the complainant must be offered an outside route appropriate to the engagement and allegation, such as:

• the buyer's contract, safeguarding, equality or compliance contact;
• an agreed independent reviewer or legal adviser;
• the relevant regulator, ombudsman or professional body where one has jurisdiction; or
• police or another competent authority.

The document must not claim that a particular external body has jurisdiction until that has been checked.

12. Records, privacy and retention

The complaint record will include:

• unique reference, dates and contacts;
• issues, requested outcome and adjustments;
• triage and risk decisions;
• evidence considered;
• communications and updates;
• findings, reasons and remedies;
• review or external escalation; and
• learning actions, owner and completion.

Complaint information will be restricted, retained and deleted in line with purpose, risk, law, contract and the Privacy and Data Protection Policy. Ordinary project reports will not expose personal complaint details.

13. Unreasonable behaviour and service restrictions

The company will distinguish a difficult or persistent complaint from behaviour that is abusive, threatening or prevents a fair process. Restrictions will be exceptional, proportionate, recorded, explained and reviewed. They will not remove a person's legal rights or block urgent safeguarding, data-protection or whistleblowing information.

14. Learning and review

The complaint owner will track timeliness, themes, repeated causes, remedies and action completion. Serious or recurring issues will trigger a policy, method, supplier or risk review.

15. Official references

Official sources checked on 23 July 2026:

1. Information Commissioner's Office, How to deal with data protection complaints: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/how-to-deal-with-data-protection-complaints/
2. Information Commissioner's Office, How to make a data protection complaint to an organisation: https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/how-to-make-a-data-protection-complaint/
3. Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, Principles of Good Complaint Handling: https://www.ombudsman.org.uk/about-us/our-principles/principles-good-complaint-handling

16. Document control

This process is reviewed at least annually and after a serious or recurring complaint. Tender-specific copies must be checked against the buyer's complaint and escalation requirements before issue.