Making a complaint about the JCRA

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Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to make it clear how individuals and businesses who are dissatisfied with the work or conduct of the Authority may exercise their right to complain and how any complaints received by the Authority will be handled.

Making a complaint about the JCRA - This policy covers

Staff conduct - complaints made in writing about how individuals or organisations have been treated by Authority staff or representatives

Investigation procedures - complaints about the process we have followed when undertakings our investigations

General complaints - dissatisfaction regarding JCRA’s general conduct, with the aim to resolve issues and learn from feedback

Making a complaint about the JCRA - This policy does NOT cover

Appeals against Authority Decisions (see links to guidelines below)

Special procedures or Disputes under investigation

Complaints against a company we regulate

Non-Regulated Entities – complaints about entities not licensed by the Authority or outside its remit

Previously considered complaints – the Authority will not usually look into a complaint that it has already considered and responded to.

Complaints policy

The Authority, including its staff, has a responsibility to exercise good judgement and act with integrity when carrying out its functions.

Where an individual or business considers the Authority has fallen short of these standards and/or is dissatisfied with our conduct, they may submit a complaint. This may include concerns such as:

how they or others have been treated by the Authority;
actions the Authority has or hasn’t taken in performing its legal functions; and
the behaviour of the Authority’s officers.

How to make a complaint

To make a complaint, complainant should contact the Authority’s Board Secretary: sarah.price@jcra.je

If the complainant does not consider the Board Secretary to be an appropriate contact for the complaint, they may submit their complaint to the Chief Executive Officer tim.ringsdore@jcra.je

The complaint should be marked ‘complaint’ and the complainant should clearly set out their complaint and provide any documentation or correspondence in their possession to support the complaint. Complainants must also state the outcome they are seeking to achieve.

Standards, timeframes and process

All complaints will be treated seriously and promptly, with any personal data submitted being handled in accordance with Jersey’s data protection law.

Complaints will be handled in the following manner:

Receipt of written complaint will be acknowledged and logged within 5 working days of receipt.
Within the 5 working days, it will be decided who is the most appropriate to handle the complaint. This may include an independent third party, particularly where the complaint regards the conduct of a member of the Authority or its staff.
The outcome will be sent within 20 working days of receipt of the complaint. If further investigation is required that prevents this deadline from being met, we will write to the complainant to explain why and give an estimated timescale for the outcome to be provided.
If the complainant is dissatisfied with the outcome, a complaint will be escalated to the Board of the Authority.

Resolution

A complaint is an opportunity for the Authority to learn from a complainants experience and to develop, refine and improve going forward. The Authority will explain what went wrong and why, and make any necessary changes required - For example, this might include updates to processes, procedures or guidance or reconsidering a specific course of action.

What will not happen

Reimbursement from the Authority

We do not have the statutory power to reimburse the complainant or make a business reimburse the complainant.

Sharing of confidential information

We cannot disclose confidential matters about regulated businesses which means we may not be able to give all the details of our decision. This includes where the Authority may have taken disciplinary action against a staff member as a result of a complaint. We will confirm whether your complaint has been dealt with.

Admission of liability

Everything said in the outcome of our review is confidential and made on a without prejudice basis and without the admission of liability. Our complaints process is informal and designed to improve our regulatory processes.

Additionally, the following matters do not fall within the scope of this policy:

Suspected breach of regulatory requirements

Report a breach by a regulated business by emailing info@jcra.je or calling (01534) 514990.

Suggestions

Make suggestion on how we can improve our standards and processes by emailing info@jcra.je or calling (01534) 514990.

Appeals against Authority Decisions

If a complainant is unhappy about a statutory decision that the Authority has made, they may be able to appeal. To find out how, either speak with the Officer handling the matter or refer to Competition Investigation Procedures (see section 6, page 10) or Regulatory Investigation Procedures (section 6, pages 18-19).