Village Works Policies

Village Works Framework

Village Works will ensure no one is left behind, the programmes aim to help more people towards work and into work, volunteering and to increase people of all ages working in inclusive lives.  This policy covers staff of all organisations involved in Village Works including sub-contractors and participants.

We will be Reliable and put you First

  • set clear customer service standards so you know what to expect
  • do what we say, on time, and aim to get it right first time
  • keep you informed so you don’t have to chase us
  • act on your feedback and publish the results

We will make our Services Convenient for you

  • provide choices on how you can contact us:
    • quickly – we aim to answer your calls within 5 minutes, and try to sort things out for you there and then
    • steadily –  if you write to us, we aim to reply within 10 working days, or you may be able to make an appointment to speak to someone
  • be open to all e.g. make sure we use accessible venues and plain English
  • provide support if you are a vulnerable person or cannot access the internet

We will be Trustworthy

  • be open and honest about our priorities, policies and performance
  • explain why decisions have been made, so you understand the reasons for them
  • deal with your feedback, say sorry if we get it wrong and aim to put things right
  • treat you with fairness, courtesy and respect
  • maintain your confidentiality and keep your data secure

We ask you to:

  • treat our staff politely
  • inform us of your views
  • let us know if you have specific things you need help with

What are we doing to Meet the Promise?

Many aspects of our performance are monitored.

Village Works Complaints Policy

We have a transparent Complaints Policy for the Village Works Project. Every partners organisation has their own copy, which can be used if you prefer.

How to make a Complaint

1. The detail of your Complaint

In order to help the Monitoring Officer make an initial assessment of your complaint please make sure you have:

  • Included your contact details in case any clarification or explanation is required relating to your complaint and Village Works
  • Identify the nature of the complaint
  • Explained the circumstances and nature of the complaint in detail.  You need to give us as much information as possible to inform our decision on your complaint and you need to demonstrate by that information how each of the areas of the Code you have identified has been breached.
  • Supplied links to or copies of any documentation relevant to your complaint.
  • Supplied copies of postings if your complaint relates to comments made on a social media site, as Council policy in relation to use of the internet limits officers’ ability to access social media sites.
  • Identified whether there are any witnesses or not, and if so, their names and contact details if you know them. It would be helpful if you could obtain the consent of anyone so identified to being a witness in support of your complaint.
  • Indicated whether you have complained about this issue before and, if so, to whom and the outcome

2. Your details

We believe it is fair that if a person is complained about they have a right to know who has made a complaint about them and that they are provided with the details of the complaint so that they may respond to the complaint.

In normal circumstances when a complaint is received details of the complaint and the name of the complainant, but not the complainant’s address or other contact details, will be passed to the councillor against whom the complaint has been made (who we will refer to as the ‘subject member’.

If you do not want your identity to be disclosed to the subject member you may request confidentially.

3. Confidentiality

If you have serious concerns about your identity or details of your complaint being released please make this clear.

We are unlikely to withhold your identity or the details of your complaint unless we consider that you have demonstrated that it is appropriate to do so. Any request for confidentiality will be considered by the Council’s Monitoring Officer or his nominee.

Each request for confidentially will be considered on its own merits and in determining such a request the following will be considered:

  • Whether you reasonably believe that you, or those connected with you, will be at risk of harm if your identity is disclosed;
  • That you are reasonably concerned about the consequences to your employment, or those connected to you, if your identity is disclosed;
  • That you suffer, or somebody closely connected to you suffers, from a medical condition and there is evidence of medical risks associated with your identity being disclosed or confirmation from an appropriate medical professional that that is the case;
  • The public interest. In some cases the public interest in proceeding with the complaint may outweigh the complainant’s wish to have their identity withheld.

Requests for confidentiality will not automatically be granted. Your request will be considered alongside the substance of your complaint.

If your request is not granted we will usually allow you the option of withdrawing your complaint.

If confidentiality is granted the subject member will be advised of that fact and the reasons, but not so as to indirectly disclose the complainant’s identity.

In exceptional circumstances, where the matter complained about is of a serious nature as detailed in the Assessment, etc. Procedure referred to above, we may decide that it is in the public interest to take appropriate action on the complaint, if you have asked us not to.

4. Submitting your Complaint

Ordinarily, you must submit your complaint in writing, and this includes electronic submissions. Or you can complete the form on line.

If you have a disability that prevents you from or makes it difficult for you to submit your complaint in writing we will assist you in submitting your complaint. We can also assist if English is not your first language.

5. Important Timescales and Further Information

Initial filtering of complaints, to advise whether the complaint will be rejected or proceed to formal assessment : Normally within 10 working days.

Assessment of your complaint : We will aim to deal with your complaint as quickly as possible and we will keep you advised of the timescales as the matter progresses.

Notification of our decision : Within 5 working days of the assessment of the complaint.

The steps in the process are explained in more detail in the Assessment, etc. Procedure referred to above, which also provides information on the procedure for assessing and reviewing complaints.

6. What Decisions can be made on a Complaint?

This is set out in more detail in the Assessment, etc. Procedure but the following decisions may be made during the assessment and determination of a complaint:

  • That the complaint should not proceed beyond the initial filter stage
  • No finding as to whether there has been a breach of the Code and take no further action
  • No finding as to whether there has been a breach of the Code but that action other than an investigation is appropriate
  • Finding of no breach of the Code
  • Finding of a breach of the Code without an investigation and impose no sanction
  • Finding of a breach of the Code without an investigation and impose a sanction
  • Referral for investigation to determine whether there has been a breach of the Code and, if so, the seriousness of the breach
  • A potential offence under the Localism Act 2011 may have been committed and an investigation, by the police where appropriate, ought to be conducted to determine whether the subject member should be prosecuted.

In some circumstances, whether a breach of the Code is found or not, a complaint may be referred for other action such as the provision of training to the subject member or even the whole of their Council

7. Notification of Decisions

The decision will be sent to the subject member, the complainant and, if applicable, the Clerk to the Subject members Council, within 5 working days of the assessment of the complaint and the decision will be published on our website shortly after.

Village Works Privacy Policy

What Information is Collected and Why?

As part of the funding arrangements for this programme we must collect evidence of your eligibility and information about your participation in the programme. This will include ID checks, employment status and other evidence required for the programme you are enrolling on. We also need to keep information on your progress through the programme.

This programme is funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) via agreements with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and Cornwall Council. We will only ask you for information required by ESF and  Cornwall Council.  Further information about the European Social Fund can be found on their website. 

To enrol on a project funded under Cornwall Councils ESF programme you must agree to provide the requested information because Cornwall Council is not able to access the funding for the project without collecting the required information.

Cornwall Council is registered to process personal data under the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018), the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and all applicable laws and regulations relating to processing of personal data and privacy, including where applicable the guidance and codes of practice issued by the Information Commissioner.

The Purposes of the Data Processing

The information you provide to the provider that runs the project and Cornwall Council will be shared with the DWP and used to evaluate this project and to report to the provider that runs the project, Cornwall Council  and ESF for monitoring purposes, in line with European Commission regulatory requirements.

Your information will also be shared with research organisations working on behalf of the DWP who may contact you to discuss your involvement in the project for research purposes. Participation in research is voluntary and you will be asked to consent before taking part in any research activity you may be contacted about.

The DWP may also link your personal details to official administrative records in order to monitor your employment status before your ESF support began and 6 to 12 months after you left. This information may also be shared with research organisations working on behalf of the DWP however individuals will not be identifiable and you will not be contacted about this research.

Data will not be used or shared for any commercial or marketing purposes.

At all times your information will be kept securely, and nobody will have access to it that shouldn’t.

The Lawful Basis for the Processing

For the purposes of GDPR, the DWP is the data controller in respect to information processed which relates to all participation in the European Social Fund. ESF grant beneficiary organisations are data processors in respect to information processed which relates to participants in the operations and projects funded by the European Social Fund.

DWP is not the controller for any other/additional data collected by the provider that runs the project and Cornwall Council that is not essential for delivering the ESF programme, or for any personal data that would normally be collected anyway by the provider that runs the project and Cornwall Council.

The lawful basis for processing personal data under ESF is available is set out in the ESF Programme Action Note 018/18, which is available on the GOV.UK website. 

The Retention Periods for the Personal Data

All personal data held by DWP or research contractors for the purposes of evaluation will be permanently deleted no more than six months after the research has been completed (i.e. when the final report is published on GOV.UK).

Personal data held by DWP for all other ESF purposes as required by European Commission regulations will be retained in line with the current guidance on GOV.UK website.

The Rights Available to Individuals in respect of the Processing

If you do not wish your personal data to be used for ESF evaluation purposes, please contact ESF.EVALUATIONS@DWP.GSI.GOV.UK and we will delete your data held for these purposes and you won’t be contacted about participating in research.

More information about how and why DWP uses your personal information, including how to ask for a copy of the personal information DWP holds about you can be found in DWP’s Personal Information Charter.  

Information about how to ask for a copy of the information DWP holds about you (known as a ‘Right of Access Request’) here.