About

Policies

Public Complaints Policy and Procedure

Introduction

The Paul Mellon Centre (PMC) is committed to providing a welcoming environment and an excellent standard of service to all our stakeholders. We value all comments and compliments and take all complaints seriously.

This policy applies to people who are not PMC employees.

If you have a concern, you are encouraged to contact us as soon as possible so that we can act to resolve any issues efficiently.

We hope that most concerns will be able to be resolved quickly and informally but where this is not possible or where your complaint is of a more serious nature we have a clear and transparent procedure for you to follow.

All comments and complaints will be treated with respect and with the utmost confidentiality.

How to Complain

  • You can telephone us on 020 7580 0311.
  • You can send an email to [email protected]
  • You can write to: The Paul Mellon Centre, 16 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3JA. Please mark the letter “Feedback” or “Complaint”.
  • You can visit us at The Paul Mellon Centre, 16 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3JA.

The Sort of Things That Might Cause You to Complain (Please note that this list is not exhaustive)

You can complain if you think that:

  • we have not treated you fairly or have discriminated against you
  • you have seen discriminatory or prejudiced behaviour by a member of PMC staff
  • we have put the health and safety of an individual at risk or in danger
  • poor administration has occurred, such as we have failed to follow our procedures, made serious errors or caused serious delay
  • we have given you incorrect information or guidance which has had a serious impact on you
  • we have not treated you with politeness and respect

Personal Information

If you have a question about how your personal data is being managed by the Paul Mellon Centre, you can find more information in our Privacy Notice.

If you think your personal data has been misused, is not being held securely or you wish to know what data we hold about you (i.e. make a subject access request), please email [email protected] or write to the Data Protection Manager at:
The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art
16 Bedford Square
London
WC1B 3JA

If you are unhappy with our response, you have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner (or another data protection supervisory authority in the EU, including the data protection regulator in the EU country where you are located).

For a more detailed explanation of these rights, please see the Information Commissioner’s guidance or try the ICO helpline on 0303 123 1113.

How We Will Deal With Your Complaint

  • We will identify a member of staff to investigate the matter.
  • Within three working days of receiving your complaint we will write to you to say that we have received it. We will tell you how we intend to deal with your complaint and who at the PMC will be dealing with it and give their contact details.
  • We will let you know when you can expect a reply from them which will normally be within ten working days of receipt of the complaint. If for any reason we are not able to respond fully within this time frame we will say why this is so and give a date by which you will hear from us.
  • Complaints may be brought within six months following the grounds upon which the cause for the complaint first arose.

If You Are Not Satisfied With the Response

If you are not satisfied with our response you may request that the matter be referred to a member of the Senior Leadership Team. If your complaint is about the PMC Director or you are not satisfied by the decision of the Senior Leadership Team, the complaint will be referred to the ex-officio Chief Executive Office of the Paul Mellon Centre at Yale University. Their decision will be final, and no further appeals will be allowed.

Monitoring of Complaints

In order to encourage learning and improvement, a quarterly report will be submitted to the PMC Senior Leadership Team detailing the number of complaints received in that quarter, the nature of each complaint and how it has been resolved.

June 2023