Introduction
The Veolia Environmental Trust endeavours to provide a high quality service that is open, honest and accessible to all. We view feedback and complaints as an opportunity to learn and improve for the future as well as a chance to correct any mistakes we may have made.
The aim of this policy is to provide a clear pathway for people to make complaints about the service they have received from us. We aim to provide a fair and transparent complaints procedure that is easy to use, where complaints are investigated thoroughly and in a timely way.
We will respect the confidentiality of any persons making complaints, but we may sometimes need to share details of your complaint with our colleagues in order to allow us to investigate thoroughly. Please see our Data Protection statement below for further details.
We want our processes to be as inclusive as possible, and we recognise that some people may have communication needs that make it difficult to complain to us. In such circumstances please contact us by whatever means is most convenient and we will make adaptations to our process to facilitate your complaint.
What you can complain about
Our complaints procedure is for people who wish to complain about the service they have received from the Veolia Environmental Trust or a decision we have made. Members of the public who wish to object to a funding decision or to report concerns about a funded project should refer to the ‘Feedback and Concerns’ section below.
You can complain if you believe that:
- We have not followed our published procedures
- We have treated you impolitely or unprofessionally
- We have treated you unfairly or have discriminated against you
- We have misused your personal information
This is not an exhaustive list, and other complaints may be considered.
There is no right of appeal against our funding decisions and your application cannot usually be re-submitted within one year of our decision. However, we may, at our discretion, consider reviewing your application if you can show that:
- We did not follow our published criteria and procedures when reviewing your application
- We failed to take into account, or we misunderstood, relevant information in your application
How to make a complaint
Our aim is to resolve all complaints as promptly as possible. We therefore operate a three-stage complaints process which aims to resolve complaints at source and only escalate if early resolution is not possible.
At stages one and two we will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within three working days and will provide a full response within 10 working days. Please note that the 10 working days begins either from the first working day after you submit your complaint, or from the first working day after you provide us with any additional information we may request, whichever is the latest.
Stage one
In the first instance you should contact the person you have been dealing with at the Trust*. You can do this by phone, through your User Account, or by sending an email to UK.Trust@veolia.com. You should make it clear what you want to complain about, ensuring that it meets the criteria above (see ‘What you can and cannot complain about’).
*If your complaint is about the member of staff that you have been dealing with and you feel unable to raise the issue with them, you can send an email to UK.Trust@veolia.com detailing your concerns. A different member of our team will then contact you.
We will attempt to resolve your complaint informally at this stage, for example by correcting any errors we may have made, or by apologising if you feel we have treated you unprofessionally or impolitely.
Stage two
If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of stage one, or if you have not received a reply from us within 10 working days, you can escalate your complaint to the Executive Director*.
The Executive Director will review your complaint, taking into account the information you have provided, and consulting the relevant Trust staff members if appropriate. The Executive Director may contact you for further information.
When we have the full information needed to review your complaint, we will provide a written response by email.
*If your complaint is about the Executive Director (or if the Executive Director is unavailable) it will be managed by another senior member of staff in consultation with the Chair of Trustees
Stage three
We expect the vast majority of complaints to be resolved at stages one or two, but if you have not received a satisfactory resolution at stage two, or have not received a response within ten working days then you can escalate your complaint to our Board of Trustees.
The Executive Director will provide a written summary of your complaint along with their response to the Chair of Trustees. The Chair may request further information.
Your complaint will be presented at the next meeting of the Board of Trustees and a final decision made. This decision will then be communicated to you in writing.
Meetings of the Board of Trustees take place once per quarter. We therefore cannot give you a timeframe in advance for this response, but we will endeavour to let you know the date of the meeting at the time you submit your stage three complaint.
Our response at stage three is final and there are no further options to escalate your complaint with the Veolia Environmental Trust. If you are still dissatisfied with the outcome you may wish to make contact with ENTRUST, the regulator of the Landfill Communities Fund, to see if your complaint meets the criteria for their complaints process.
Feed back and concerns
Applicants and funded projects can provide feedback on their experience with the Trust by completing the feedback form provided as part of the application and grant closure processes. You can also contact us at any time if you wish to provide further feedback by sending an email to UK.Trust@veolia.com. We are a small team and we cannot guarantee that we will respond to your communication, but we will endeavour to review and learn from all feedback we receive.
If you are a member of the public and you wish to raise concerns about a project that we have funded, you can do so by sending an email to UK.Trust@veolia.com. Please ensure your email contains as much detail about the project, preferably including the postcode of the project site and the name of the organisation responsible for the site. We may contact you if we require further information; if so we will do so using the email address from which you raised your concern.
Whilst we take all concerns seriously, we cannot investigate or respond to all objections to a project being funded. We will only investigate if there is evidence that:
- The project does not comply with the objects of the Landfill Communities Fund and the Landfill Tax Regulations 1996
- The project is in breach of the terms and conditions of its Finance Agreement with us
- The applicant provided false or misleading information as part of their application to us
- Any assets funded by us have been sold, made inaccessible to the public, or not kept in good a good state of repair
- The funded organisation is responsible for illegality, discrimination or environmental damage taking place at the project site
When such concerns are reported to us we will investigate and, if appropriate, take action. However, we cannot give updates on the investigation and cannot provide details of its findings or any action we may take.
Data Protection
For details of how we will use your data please refer to our Privacy Policy