Unhappy? Let us know
Raising your concerns with us
The easiest and quickest way to resolve any concerns you have is to contact the Service Desk. Please allow us to answer your concerns and put matters right.
If you’re not entirely satisfied with the response from the Service Desk, our formal complaints procedure is as follows.
The Data Service wants to ensure that it is providing first-rate service to its customers and stakeholders. Our objective is to use complaints as a service improvement springboard; if there is an issue with the services we provide, root-cause analysis and corrective action should be performed swiftly.
Scope of Investigations
The Data Service only investigates complaints regarding products and services it provides. Complaints regarding other areas of the Skills Funding Agency, Young People’s Learning Agency or individual learning providers have their own processes, which are detailed here.
Please note that some complaints regarding calculations or methodologies originating and/or approved by other bodies, such as the Skills Funding Agency or Young People’s Learning Agency, may need to be handled through their shared complaints process above, rather than ours. The Service Manager will inform you if this is the case.
Raising a Complaint
Please raise formal written complaints with our Service Manager:
- Write to the Service Manager, Data Service, Cheylesmore House, Quinton Road, Coventry, CV1 2WT
- Use our online form and request that the Service Manager responds
Once your complaint has been received, our process is as follows:
1. The Data Service will respond to the initial written complaint within ten (10) working days to inform the complainant that we are investigating the issue(s) raised and give a time frame for this work. The Service Manager will also use that contact to ensure that s/he fully understands the complaint.
2. Once the complainant validates our summary, we identify resource within the Data Service to investigate. The Service Manager will update the complainant as to how long this will take. We hope that this does not take more than five (5) working days, however some complaints may take longer to investigate.
3a. Depending on the nature of the complaint and whether the complainant is a provider, we may contact the complainant’s Skills Funding Agency or YPLA Account Managers to ensure they are aware of the complaint and its implications.
3b. If required, we may also contact other organisations, such as OfSted, Department for Education, etc., to source additional information.
4. When the investigation is completed, the Service Manager will write to the complainant describing:
- The investigation and its results,
- Any corrective actions either the Data Service or the complainant can take, and/or
- Future preventative actions for either party.
Depending on the nature of the investigation, we anticipate closing the majority of complaints within twenty-five (25) working days of the confirmation of the issue by the complainant.
Escalation Procedures
If the complainant is not satisfied with the results of the investigation, s/he may appeal to the Data Service’s Service Director in writing:
- Write to the Service Director, Data Service, Cheylesmore House, Quinton Road, Coventry, CV1 2WT
If the complainant is not satisfied with the outcome of the Data Service's complaints process, it can be raised in writing with the Skills Funding Agency/YPLA Shared Legal Team, however the Shared Legal Team generally only begins an investigation after the Data Service’s complaints process is exhausted.
