Complaints procedure

If you complain directly to the member of staff you are dealing with, it may be possible to solve the problem quickly and easily.

However, if you have a complaint which has not been resolved by speaking to the staff member, please send or email full details of your complaint to:

Lara Pollard

Executive Office Manager

Highlands and Islands Enterprise

Freepost IV74

Inverness

IV2 7BR

Direct-line: 01463 244502

Email: executive.office@hient.co.uk

*Please note

HIE uses filter software to check automatically all incoming email. In order to protect its staff, HIE does not accept emails containing profanities and will automatically delete, with no response, any email that contains offensive or profane content matching references provided by an independent email security content provider.

The document 'Are you happy with our service?' clearly outlines our complaints procedure and is available from any of our offices or to download from related documents (right) .

Your complaint will then be dealt with under the following internal customer complaints procedure:

Stage one

If you complaint is regarding one of our Area Offices or HIE core, it will be passed to the appropriate Director for investigation.

All formal complaints will be acknowledged within two working days.  There will be a detailed investigation of your complaint and a full and considered reply will be sent to you within ten working days.

If more time is required to investigate your complaint we will contact you every week to keep you informed.  If we do not uphold our own standards, we will apologise, explain reasons and the action we are taking to make sure the problem does not happen again.

Stage two

If your complaint has been investigated at Stage one of our complaints procedure and you are dissatisfied with the response, you can refer your complaint to the HIE chief executive whose response completes the formal internal complaints procedure.

Sandy Cumming

Chief Executive

Highlands and Islands Enterprise

Freepost IV74

Inverness

IV2 7BR

Stage three - Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

If you remain dissatisfied after invoking and exhausting the HIE internal customer complaints procedure you have the right under the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Act 2002 to make a complaint to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman.

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

4 Melville Street

Edinburgh

EH3 7NS

Tel: 0870 011 5378

Fax: 0870 011 5379

www.ombudsmanscotland.org.uk