Complaints Procedure and Internal Review Process

Should you be dissatisfied with any area of the service that you have received from the VCA then please follow the complaints procedure.

If you are dissatisfied with the way the VCA has handled your request for information or with the decisions made in relation to your request, you may request an internal review.

Complaints Procedure

The VCA strives to maintain the highest level of service throughout the agency but recognises that there may be times when this is not achieved. We encourage our customers to bring such instances to our attention so that we can learn from them and continue our ethos of continual improvement.

Should you be dissatisfied with any area of the service that you have received from the VCA then please follow the procedure outlined below.

Step 1 – Local resolution

Initially, please speak to your local VCA contact (i.e.: engineer/auditor etc.) to try to resolve the issue locally.

 

Step 2 – Head of Central Quality independent review

If you feel that your complaint has not been dealt with satisfactorily you should preferably email the Head of Central Quality, (but postal complaints are processed too), who will then formally acknowledge the complaint, allocate a unique VCA reference number, commence an independent investigation, and respond to you directly with the findings.

By E-mail – complaints@vca.gov.uk

By post –

The Head of Central Quality
Vehicle Certification Agency
No 1 The Eastgate Office Centre
Eastgate Road
Bristol
BS5 6XX
United Kingdom

 

Step 3 – CEO Review

If you feel that your complaint has still not been dealt with satisfactorily by the VCA Head of Central Quality, you should contact:

By E-mail – complaints@vca.gov.uk (please mark for the attention of the CEO)

By post –

The Chief Executive Officer
Vehicle Certification Agency
No 1 The Eastgate Office Centre
Eastgate Road
Bristol
BS5 6XX
United Kingdom

You should provide full details of your complaint, including the unique VCA reference number, and copies of the responses that you have received so far.

 

Step 4 – Independent Complaints Assessor (ICA)

You can ask us to pass your complaint to the ICA if you have been through Step 3 and are not happy with the response. The VCA can refer a complaint to the ICA at any stage.

Follow this link for more information on referral of a complaint to the Independent Complaints Assessor (ICA).

 

Step 5 – Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO)

The VCA’s complaints procedure does not affect your right to refer your complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO).

More details can be obtained by writing to:

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO)
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP

 

Freedom of Information (FOI) / Environmental Information Regulation (EIR) Internal Review Process

If you are unhappy with the way VCA has handled your request for information or with the decisions made in relation to your request, you may request an internal review to an FOI or EIR response.

Step 1 – Request an Internal Review

A request for an Internal Review should be made within two calendar months of response of your request for information by writing to the VCA FOI Advice team.

By E-mail – foi.user@vca.gov.uk

By post –

The FOI Advice TEAM
Vehicle certification Agency
No 1 The Eastgate Office Centre
Eastgate Road
Bristol
BS5 6XX

Upon receipt of the request the team will retrieve the case file, record that the case is under internal review and pass the ‘Internal Review’ request to the VCA, Head of Central Quality who handles the Complaints process within the VCA.

The Head of Central Quality will then log the case, issue an acknowledgement detailing the expected target date of response and ask the Chief Executive Officer to appoint a senior independent official to conduct the review.

The  senior independent official will conduct their own review. You will be advised of the outcome of the appeal and if a decision is taken to disclose information originally withheld, this will be done as soon as possible, usually within 20 days. More complex cases may take up to 40 days in line with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) guidance.

 

Step 2 – Complain to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO)

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner (ICO) for a decision.

By post –

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
Cheshire
SK9 5AF