Complaints, appeals and reviews

Organisations may have internal review or appeal processes which do not come with a subsequent right of appeal to a tribunal, court or government minister. The public may be expected to use these processes to challenge the decisions or actions of the organisation.

We would not normally expect complainants to go through a review process and a complaints procedure in succession before coming to the Ombudsman.

Organisations may decide to exclude complaints about these matters from the complaints process. If this is the case, appellants should be signposted to the Ombudsman at the conclusion of the appeal or review.

If organisations decide to consider these matters as complaints following an appeal or review, then complaints should be dealt with at stage 2. This means complainants do not have to navigate multiple staged processes before coming to the Ombudsman.

Organisations should map internal review and appeal processes to ensure they are in line with the principles set out in the Code and that people are signposted to the Ombudsman at an appropriate time.