Complaints Procedure

I want concerns about my services to be raised and dealt with fairly, promptly and proportionately. This procedure applies to training, consultancy, e-learning, workplace mediation, conflict coaching, speaking and facilitation supplied by Jake Morrison trading as Jake Morrison Training & Consultancy.

This procedure is also my published complaints procedure for my work as a Civil Mediation Council (CMC) registered mediator.

For this procedure, a working day means Monday to Friday excluding bank holidays in England and Wales.

1. How to make a complaint

Please email info@jakemorrison.co.uk.

You do not need to use legal language or a particular form. It is helpful if you include:

your name and contact details;
the Service or mediation concerned;
what happened and when;
the main points you would like me to consider; and
what outcome you are seeking, where you have one in mind.

If email is not reasonably accessible for you, contact me and I will agree a practical alternative way for you to provide the complaint.

2. Acknowledgement and response times

I will acknowledge the complaint in writing within five working days of receiving it.

I will investigate the complaint and will normally provide a substantive written response within 21 working days of receiving it.

If the matter is unusually complex or I reasonably need further information, I may need longer. If so, I will tell you in writing before the 21-working-day period expires, explain why more time is needed and give an updated timescale.

3. How I will consider the complaint

I will review the relevant correspondence, booking information and other records reasonably needed to understand the issue. I may ask you for clarification or additional information.

I will consider the complaint fairly and will not treat a complaint as evidence that either party is automatically right or wrong.

As a sole practitioner, I normally investigate complaints about my own services. The CMC requirement for an investigation by somebody other than the mediator applies to registered mediation providers; it does not require an individual regulated mediator to appoint a separate investigator for every complaint.

Where a complaint raises an issue on which independent professional, legal, insurance or regulatory advice is appropriate, I may obtain confidential advice while remaining responsible for my response.

4. Outcome

My written response will explain the outcome of my investigation and, where appropriate, any action I propose to take.

Possible outcomes may include an explanation, correction, apology, practical remedial action, a service or process change, a fee adjustment or refund where appropriate, or a conclusion that no further action is justified.

The appropriate outcome will depend on the facts and the contractual or professional obligations that apply.

5. Complaints about workplace mediation and the CMC

If the complaint concerns my conduct as a CMC-registered mediator, you should normally complete this complaints process first.

If you remain dissatisfied after my final response, you may be able to raise the matter with the Civil Mediation Council where it falls within the CMC's regulatory scope. The CMC states that its process is for serious concerns about a regulated member that could call into question their suitability to continue practising, rather than a general compensation scheme.

The CMC's current guidance says complaints should normally be made after the mediator's own complaints process has been exhausted. Its current Regulations state that a complaint against a regulated person should normally be made within three months of the conclusion of the mediator's complaint-handling process, although the CMC has discretion in relation to late complaints.

See the CMC complaints and concerns information

See the CMC Complaints FAQ

The CMC cannot award compensation or financial recompense. Using the CMC route does not remove any separate legal rights you may have.

6. No separate internal appeal stage

Because I am a sole practitioner, I do not operate a separate internal appeal panel after my final complaint response.

For a mediation complaint, the external CMC route described above may be available where its criteria are met. For other disputes, any contractual, legal, insurance, regulatory or dispute-resolution route that applies remains available.

7. Data-protection complaints

If your concern is about how I have used personal information or handled a data-protection right, you can still contact info@jakemorrison.co.uk and I will investigate it.

My Privacy Notice contains further information about data-protection rights and the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

You do not have to complete my internal process before contacting the ICO.

8. Records and confidentiality

I keep a written record of complaints received and how they were handled for an appropriate period, including where this is necessary for professional, insurance, regulatory or legal reasons.

Complaint information is shared only where reasonably necessary to investigate or respond to the complaint, obtain confidential advice, deal with an insurer or regulator, or comply with the law.

A complaint about mediation does not automatically remove the confidentiality protections that apply to the mediation itself. I will use only the information reasonably necessary to investigate the complaint and will take account of the applicable mediation confidentiality arrangements and legal obligations.

9. No effect on legal rights

Making a complaint does not remove or suspend any legal or contractual right that you or I may have, and this procedure does not create a right to a remedy that would not otherwise be available.

10. Contact

Complaints should be sent to:

info@jakemorrison.co.uk