NWPA Complaints Procedure

1.Terms of Reference This Procedure shall only be applied in relation to:

1.1 Actions which have been initiated and approved by the North Wales Photographic Association (the NWPA) as a body, and undertaken by them.
1.2 Actions by the NWPA on behalf of another organization which have been endorsed by the NWPA and affect one or more Clubs in the Federation .
1.3 Actions undertaken by individual members of the NWPA Executive Committee acting on behalf of the NWPA.
1.4 The NWPA will not act as an arbitrator in complaints between individual members of associated Clubs and their Club Executive. Where the circumstances of such complaints actually or potentially affect other clubs, they should be raised via the Club’s NWPA Representative for discussion at a NWPA Executive Committee meeting if it is considered the opinion of other Clubs is relevant.
1.5 Action under this Complaints Procedure does not preclude separate action by the Complainant under civil or criminal law. Protection for legal action against the officially recorded members of the Executive Committee should be provided by appropriate insurance. (It is noted that this is currently given under a Trustee Liability Insurance policy via the PAGB).
1.6 All activities undertaken in response to a complaint shall be compliant with the NWPA Constitution.
1.7 Discussions and minutes of the proceedings of the Complaints Panel will normally be held in English. Proceedings may be held in Welsh but translation into English will be at complainant/defendants own cost.

2. Communication of the complaint

2.1 The complaint should be sent to the NWPS Secretary in writing, accompanied by any evidence. Where such evidence is part of a larger document, the relevant data should be included in detail, together with sufficient references to the larger document to ensure its accurate identification.
2.2 The complaint with full and final documentation must be submitted within 12 calendar months of the date on which the alleged cause for complaint took place. New evidence subsequent to this date may form part of the Appeal process.
2.3 The Executive Committee of the Club concerned should be aware of the complaint. It should have been discussed beforehand, and the arguments and conclusions of such discussions minuted. The details of this minute should be included in the documentation sent to the NWPA Secretary, both in relation to an individual complaint and for a complaint from a Club.
2.4 The NWPA Secretary will acknowledge receipt of the complaint in writing.
2.5 The original documents comprising the complaint will be kept on file, and copies sent by the Secretary to members of the Complaints Panel.
2.6 In order that the NWPA Representative of the Club concerned should be able to liaise competently, they should be informed at all stages and receive a copy of the complaint correspondence. It may or may not be appropriate for them to be 2 involved in the subsequent discussions.

3. Response Time to the Complaint

3.1 The reply to the complainant acknowledging receipt should be sent within 14 days of receipt by the NWPA Secretary.
3.2 A meeting of the Complaints Panel should be convened within 6 weeks of receipt of the complaint unless there are extenuating circumstances. If it is not practical for the Complainant and/or other key persons to attend within this time period, this should be noted and the Complaints Panel shall be considered to have met its response time conditions. A mutually agreeable later date should then be identified.

4. Composition of the Panel

4.1 The Panel should consist of two senior officers of the NWPA Executive Committee selected from the President, Vice-President, Treasurer, or Secretary, plus a third person independent of the Club or Clubs involved in the complaint.
4.2 One member of the panel should be elected as Chairman by the other members.
4.3 All members of the Panel have equal voting rights. In the event of a tie in the voting, the Chairman will have an additional casting vote.
4.4 A separate Minutes Secretary should attend the meeting. The Minute Secretary should not be one of the people involved in the discussion. The Minute Secretary should not have voting rights.
4.5 If the complaint is against someone acting on behalf of NWPA, that person should not be a member of the Complaints Panel. They should attend the Panel meeting, and the evidence they present, and their participation in the discussion should be at the discretion, and under the direction of the Chairman of the panel.
4.6 The Panel should have the authority to co-opt any other person or persons with expertise that they consider is relevant to the problem to be discussed. A person co-opted onto the Panel shall not have the voting rights of a Panel member.
4.7 The Panel has the right to request any person to attend the meeting and give evidence in relation to the complaint; such people do not have voting rights. After all evidence has been presented and discussed the complainant/defendant and other parties will be asked to leave the meeting so that the panel can arrive at a recommendation.

5. Representation in support of the Complainant and/or those subject to the complaint

5.1 The Complainant may bring one other person of their choice to the meeting with the Complaints Panel. This person should present information on behalf of the Complainant, and only be involved in the discussions at the request of the 3 Panel Chairman.
5.2 If the complaint is against a person acting on behalf of NWPA, that person may bring one other person of their choice to the meeting with the Complaints Panel. This person should present information on behalf of those subject to the complaint, and only be involved in the discussions at the request of the Panel Chairman.

6. Publication of Decisions and Record of the Discussion

6.1 A summary of the complaint, a list of the attendees, and the provisional recommendations of the Complaints Panel shall be recorded by the Minutes Secretary and tabled to the NWPA Executive Committee within 30 days. The recommendations are to be ratified or rejected at the next Executive Committee meeting. The ratified decision to be communicated in writing to the Complainant and to the Secretary of their Club within 14 days of this meeting.
6.2 The NWPA Secretary, the NWPA Representative of the Club concerned and the Complainant should receive a copy of the minutes of the discussions of the Panel meeting. These full minutes will only be available to members of the Executive Committee on application to the NWPA Secretary. The Complaints Panel shall have the authority to restrict the circulation of the minutes for confidentiality or legal reasons. The name and Club of recipients of the minutes should be recorded.

7. Actions following the decisions of the Panel

7.1 If a complaint is proven, the Complaints Panel should have the authority to request the person or persons offending to communicate a written apology, and/or other appropriate document, to the Complainant within 14 days of receipt of the ratified Panel decisions.
7.2 If the complaint is not proven, the Panel should have the authority to request the Complainant to provide a written apology, and/or other appropriate document, to all the alleged offending persons within 14 days of receipt of the ratified Panel decisions.
7.3 If financial negligence is proven in contradiction to the normal operations between NWPA and the member Clubs, the Panel has the authority to require the NWPA Treasurer to pay or credit the Complainant or their Club an amount the same as that which would be involved under normal operations, plus interest at the current Bank Rate since the date of the offence.

8. Appeal

8.1 The decision of the Complaints Panel shall be final unless a formal appeal is made within the specified time scale.
8.2 No appeal will be accepted unless there is substantial new evidence that could potentially alter the Panel’s decision, or there is inappropriate conduct by members of the Complaints Panel. An appeal by the Complainant should be 4 made in writing to the Secretary of the NWPA identifying the reasons within 30 days of the provisional decision being received by them. The decision whether to permit an appeal will be made by a quorate meeting of the NWPA Executive Committee.
8.3 If an appeal is considered justified, the full Executive Committee will review the documentation and records of discussions to date, and consider any new evidence. Members should be asked to declare an interest, which should be identified. Where there is a conflict of interest, that member may not participate in the discussions or actions, (unless a waiver for a minor conflict is granted by the Chairman of the Complaints Panel), but may attend as an observer.
8.4 The consideration of all the evidence can take place at a specially convened meeting, or by e-mail. All members of the Executive Committee should participate, and contribute to the decision to uphold or modify the Complaints Panel decisions. Each change to a Panel decision has to be formally proposed and seconded and subject to a majority vote.