Complaints team

The Complaints team is responsible for investigating complaints as set out in our Terms of Reference.

Assessment and Allocation team

The Assessment and Allocation team is the first point of contact when a complaint is made and for any general enquiries to the office.

Their job is to assess the complaint to ensure it can be considered by the Ombudsman under our Terms of Reference.

For more on how they go about assessing complaints see What to expect when you make a complaint.

Investigation teams

Investigators are responsible for investigating the complaints passed to them by the Assessment and Allocation team. They look carefully at the facts and then report their findings to an Assistant Ombudsman.

There are teams which specialise in serious complaints and those about probation and immigration. All investigators also investigate less serious prison cases.

Occasionally, the behaviour or actions of individuals using our service makes it very difficult for us to deal with their complaint, or the complaints of others. In a small number of cases the actions become unacceptable because they involve abuse of our staff or our processes. The PPO Unreasonable Complainant Policy explains how we identify unreasonable behaviour from complainants and manage their interaction with the PPO, and how we protect the rights of complainants throughout the process.

For more on how we investigate complaints see What to expect when you make a complaint.