PRIVACY & OTHER

Privacy Policy

The LYF is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This policy (together with our Terms of Use and our Website Acceptable Use policy (below) and any other documents referred to on it) sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed by us. By visiting and/or using www.lyf.org.uk and www.farmersvoiceradio.org you are accepting and consenting to the practices described in this policy. We will carry out our functions in this area in line with data protection legislation.

INFORMATION WE MAY COLLECT FROM YOU

We may collect and process the following data about you:

Information you give us. You may give us information about you on our Lorna Young Foundation website and Farmer Voice Radio website, or via the interactive features of our websites, platform and services, or by corresponding with us by phone, SMS, e-mail or otherwise. This includes information you provide when you register to use our site, subscribe to our service, participate in discussion boards or other social functions on our site and when you report a problem with our site. The information you give us may include your name, country of residence, gender, email address, phone number and descriptions of your expertise and preferences.

Information we collect about you. With regard to each of your visits to our site we may automatically collect technical information (including the IP address used to connect your computer to the internet, your login information, browser type and version, time zone setting, operating system and platform), or other information about your visit (including the URL clickstream to, through and from our site (including date and time), download errors, length of visits to certain pages and page interaction information.

USES MADE OF THE INFORMATION

We use information held about you in the following ways:
Information you give to us. We will use this information:

  • to provide you with the information and services that you request or that we feel might interest you;
  • to notify you about changes to our service;
  • seeking your views or comments on our work and services
  • handling and thanking you for a donation that you have made
  • analysing responses made in relation to research
  • handling a job or a volunteer/ associate application

Information we collect about you. We will use this information:

  • to administer our site and for internal operations, including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, research, statistical and survey purposes;
  • to improve our site to ensure that content is presented in the most effective manner for you; as part of our efforts to keep our site safe and secure;
  • to measure or understand the effectiveness of advertising we serve to you and others, and to deliver relevant advertising to you.

We regularly review how long we hold onto your personal information. We are required to hold some types of information to fulfil our legal obligations (for example for the collection of gift aid). However, we will only ever hold your personal information on our systems for as long as necessary.

We will only ever use your information for the purpose we told you when you originally provided it. As a broad example, if you apply for a job vacancy, your details will only be used for recruitment purposes – they will not be used for marketing purposes.

The legal basis that we rely on for processing your information will depend on the circumstances in which it is being collected and used. However, in most cases, it will fall into one of the following categories:

  • Where you have provided your consent for us to use your data in the way that we have explained. For example, we will always ask consent before sending you e-mails about our work
  • Where we need to process your information to carry out our legal obligations, such as processing gift aid
  • Where the processing is necessary to carry out the performance of a contract, such as processing a donation
  • Where we have a legitimate reason to process your information to support our aim of a world with reduced levels of poverty

We have provided further explanation below about legitimate interests:

  • Broadly speaking, legitimate interests means we may process your personal information where we have a genuine and legitimate reason and are not harming any of your rights or interests.
  • When we process your information for our legitimate interests, we will always consider and balance any potential impact on your rights. As such, we will never use your information for activities where our interests are overridden by the impact on you.
  • It is always your choice whether you want to receive information from us. You can opt-out at any time by contacting us at projectmanager@lyf.org.uk and stating ‘Opt Out’ and your email address

DISCLOSURE OF YOUR INFORMATION

We may share your personal information with any member of our group of partners involved in delivering Farmers Voice Radio or with wider Lorna Young Foundation initiatives aimed at supporting disadvantaged farming communities.

We may share your information with selected third parties including:

  • business partners, suppliers and sub-contractors for the performance of any contract we enter into with them;
  • research institutions or students whose work will support the mission and aims of the Lorna Young Foundation and our initiatives;
  • advertisers that require the data to select and serve relevant adverts to you and others. We do not disclose information about identifiable individuals to our advertisers, but we may provide them with aggregate information about our users. We may also use such aggregate information to help advertisers reach the kind of audience they want to target;
  • analytics and search engine providers that assist us in the improvement and optimisation of our site.
  • Law enforcement bodies and/or regulatory entities, to comply with any legal obligation or court order.

We may disclose your personal information to third parties in the event that we sell or buy any business or assets (in which case we may disclose your personal data to the prospective seller or buyer of such business or assets), or in instances where we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal obligation or in order to enforce or apply our terms of use.

We will always take steps to ensure that your privacy continues to be protected.

WHERE WE STORE YOUR PERSONAL DATA

The data that we collect from you may be transferred to, and stored at, a destination outside the European Economic Area. By submitting your personal data, you agree to this transfer, storing or processing. We will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this privacy policy.

Where a donation is made to The Lorna Young Foundation/ Farmers Voice Radio via our sites, you will be asked for certain information including details of a credit or debit card; an email address; your billing address and a telephone number. These details are collected by third-party payment processors over a secure link who will use the personal information you provide to process your online payment. Such details are not collected by us and are not made available to us. Any payment made online via our third-party payment processors will use standard industry software which encrypts the information you provide. The LYF can accept no responsibility for the security of these transactions.

Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password which enables you to access certain parts of our site, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share a password with anyone. See the Terms of Website and Acceptable Use of our Websites for more information.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to our site; any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access.

YOUR CHOICES

We want to make sure you’re in control of how we use and keep your information.

You have the right to:

  • be told how your personal information will be used
  • update or amend the information we hold about you
  • change your communication preferences at any time
  • ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information
  • ask us to remove your personal information from our records
  • request an electronic copy of your personal information be sent to you
  • object to the processing of your information for marketing purposes on the basis of a legitimate interest or for statistical purposes
  • raise a concern or complaint about the way in which your information is being used.

On any information collection forms that you are presented with, we will ask you to tick the relevant boxes to opt in to receive communications from us. We will always tell you why and how your information will be used.

You also have a right to ask for a copy of the information we hold about you. To do this, please email us at projectmanager@lyf.org.uk

If there are any discrepancies in the information we provide, please let us know and we will correct them.

We will never contact you for marketing purposes by email, telephone, text message or post if you have told us that you don’t want to be contacted.

THIRD PARTY LINKS

Our site may, from time to time, contain links to and from the websites of our partner networks, advertisers and affiliates. If you follow a link to any of these websites, please note that these websites have their own privacy policies and that we do not accept any responsibility or liability for these policies. Please check these policies before you submit any personal data to these websites.

COOKIES

Our websites use cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allows us to improve our site. For further information on the cookies we use and the purposes for which we use them see our Cookie policy.

CHANGES TO OUR PRIVACY POLICY

This Privacy Policy was last updated in January 2020. Any changes we may make to our privacy policy in the future will be posted on this page. Please check back frequently to see any updates or changes have been made.

Terms of Website Use

This page (together with the documents referred to on it) tells you the terms of use on which you may make use of our websites www.lyf.org.uk and www.farmersvoiceradio.org whether as a guest or a registered user. Please read these terms of use carefully before you start to use the sites. By using our sites, you indicate that you accept these terms of use and that you agree to abide by them. If you do not agree to these terms of use, please refrain from using our sites.

INFORMATION ABOUT US

www.lyf.org.uk and www.farmersvoiceradio.org are sites operated by The Lorna Young Foundation (“We”). We are registered in England and Wales under company number 4788426 and are a registered charity under charity number 1112895 and we have our registered office at 47 Lea Lane, Netherton, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, HD4 7DP, United Kingdom. We are regulated by The Charity Commission. We are a company limited by guarantee.

ACCESSING OUR SITES

Access to our sites are permitted on a temporary basis, and we reserve the right to withdraw or amend the service we provide on our sites without notice (see below). We will not be liable if for any reason our sites are unavailable at any time or for any period. From time to time, we may restrict access to some parts of our sites, or our entire sites, to users who have registered with us. If you choose, or you are provided with, a user identification code, password or any other piece of information as part of our security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential, and you must not disclose it to any third party. We have the right to disable any user identification code or password, whether chosen by you or allocated by us, at any time, if in our opinion you have failed to comply with any of the provisions of these terms of use. When using our sites, you must comply with the provisions of our acceptable use policy (below). You are responsible for making all arrangements necessary for you to have access to our sites.  You are also responsible for ensuring that all persons who access our sites through your internet connection are aware of these terms, and that they comply with them.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

We are the owner or the licensee of all intellectual property rights in our sites, and in the material published on it.  Those works are protected by copyright laws and treaties around the world.  All such rights are reserved. For the www.lyf.org.uk website: You may print off one copy, and may download extracts, of any page(s) from our sites for your personal reference and you may draw the attention of others within your organisation to material posted on our sites.  You must not modify the paper or digital copies of any materials you have printed off or downloaded in any way, and you must not use any illustrations, photographs, video or audio sequences or any graphics separately from any accompanying text. You must not use any part of the materials on www.lyf.org.uk site for commercial purposes without obtaining a licence to do so from us or our licensors. For the www.farmersvoiceradio.org website: There are very specific requirements with regards to the use of our manuals and materials. You will find this information on IPR on the ‘Resources’ pages of the website and on the materials themselves. Please pay close attention to our instructions there. Our status (and that of any identified contributors) as the authors of material on our sites must always be acknowledged.If you print off, copy or download any part of our sites in breach of these terms of use, or in breach of the specific instructions on www.farmersvoiceradio.org.uk your right to use our sites will cease immediately and you must, at our option, return or destroy any copies of the materials you have made.

RELIANCE ON INFORMATION POSTED

Commentary and other materials posted on our sites are not intended to amount to advice on which reliance should be placed.  We therefore disclaim all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on such materials by any visitor to our sites, or by anyone who may be informed of any of its contents.

OUR SITE CHANGES REGULARLY

We aim to update our sites regularly and may change the content at any time. If the need arises, we may suspend access to our sites, or close it indefinitely. Any of the material on our sites may be out of date at any given time, and we are under no obligation to update such material.

OUR LIABILITY

The material displayed on our sites is provided without any guarantees, conditions or warranties as to its accuracy. To the extent permitted by law, we, other members of our group of companies and third parties connected to us hereby expressly exclude:

  • All conditions, warranties and other terms which might otherwise be implied by statute, common law or the law of equity.
  • Any liability for any direct, indirect or consequential loss or damage incurred by any user in connection with our sites or in connection with the use, inability to use, or results of the use of our sites, any websites linked to it and any materials posted on it, including, without limitation any liability for:
    • • loss of income or revenue;
    • • loss of business;
    • • loss of profits or contracts;
    • • loss of anticipated savings;
    • • loss of data;
    • • loss of goodwill;
    • • wasted management or office time; and for any other loss or damage of any kind, however arising and whether caused by tort (including negligence), breach of contract or otherwise, even if foreseeable, provided that this condition shall not prevent claims for loss of or damage to your tangible property or any other claims for direct financial loss that are not excluded by any of the categories set out above.

This does not affect our liability for death or personal injury arising from our negligence, nor our liability for fraudulent misrepresentation or misrepresentation as to a fundamental matter, nor any other liability which cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

INFORMATION ABOUT YOU AND YOUR VISITS TO OUR SITES

We process information about you in accordance with our privacy policy (above). By using our sites, you consent to such processing and you warrant that all data provided by you is accurate.

UPLOADING MATERIAL TO OUR SITES

Whenever you make use of a feature that allows you to upload material to our sites, or to make contact with other users of our sites, you must comply with the content standards set out in our acceptable use policy (below). You warrant that any such contribution does comply with those standards, and you indemnify us for any breach of that warranty.  Any material you upload to our sites will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary, and we have the right to use, copy, distribute and disclose to third parties any such material for any purpose. We also have the right to disclose your identity to any third party who is claiming that any material posted or uploaded by you to our sites constitutes a violation of their intellectual property rights, or of their right to privacy. We will not be responsible, or liable to any third party, for the content or accuracy of any materials posted by you or any other user of our sites. We have the right to remove any material or posting you make on our sites if, in our opinion, such material does not comply with the content standards set out in our acceptable use policy (ab.

VIRUSES, HACKING AND OTHER OFFENCES

You must not misuse our sites by knowingly introducing viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material which is malicious or technologically harmful. You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to our sites, the server on which our sites are stored or any server, computer or database connected to our sites. You must not attack our sites via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of service attack. By breaching this provision, you would commit a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. We will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities and we will co-operate with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them. In the event of such a breach, your right to use our sites will cease immediately.

We will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a distributed denial-of-service attack, viruses or other technologically harmful material that may infect your computer equipment, computer programs, data or other proprietary material due to your use of our sites or to your downloading of any material posted on it, or on any website linked to it.

LINKING TO OUR SITES

You may link to our home pages, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it, but you must not establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement on our part where none exists. You must not establish a link from any website that is not owned by you.Our sites must not be framed on any other site, nor may you create a link to any part of our sites other than the home page. We reserve the right to withdraw linking permission without notice. The website from which you are linking must comply in all respects with the content standards set out in our acceptable use policy (below).If you wish to make any use of material on our sites other than that set out above, please address your request to projectmanager@lyf.org.uk

LINKS FROM OUR SITES

Where our sites contain links to other sites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your information only.  We have no control over the contents of those sites or resources and accept no responsibility for them or for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of them.

JURISDICTION AND APPLICABLE LAW

The English courts will have non-exclusive jurisdiction over any claim arising from, or related to, a visit to our site although we retain the right to bring proceedings against you for breach of these conditions in your country of residence or any other relevant country.

These terms of use and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them or their subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims) shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the law of England and Wales.

VARIATIONS

We may revise these terms of use at any time by amending this page. You are expected to check this page from time to time to take notice of any changes we made, as they are binding on you. Some of the provisions contained in these terms of use may also be superseded by provisions or notices published elsewhere on our sites.

YOUR CONCERNS

If you have any concerns about material which appears on our sites, please contact projectmanager@lyf.org.uk

Website Acceptable Use Policy

This acceptable use policy sets out the terms between you and us under which you may access our websites: www.lyf.org.uk and www.farmersvoiceradio.org (our sites). This acceptable use policy applies to all users of, and visitors to, our sites.

Your use of our sites means that you accept, and agree to abide by, all the policies in this acceptable use policy, which supplement our terms of website use (above).

www.lyf.org.uk and www.farmersvoiceradio.org are sites operated by The Lorna Young Foundation. We are a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales under company number We are registered in England and Wales under company number 4788426 and are a registered charity under charity number 1112895 and we have our registered office at 47 Lea Lane, Netherton, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, HD4 7DP, United Kingdom. We are regulated by The Charity Commission.

ROHIBITED USES

You may use our sites only for lawful purposes. You may not use our sites:

  • In any way that breaches any applicable local, national or international law or regulation.
  • In any way that is unlawful or fraudulent or has any unlawful or fraudulent purpose or effect.
  • For the purpose of harming or attempting to harm minors in any way.
  • To send, knowingly receive, upload, download, use or re-use any material which does not comply with our content standards.
  • To transmit, or procure the sending of, any unsolicited or unauthorised advertising or promotional material or any other form of similar solicitation (spam).
  • To knowingly transmit any data, send or upload any material that contains viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time-bombs, keystroke loggers, spyware, adware or any other harmful programs or similar computer code designed to adversely affect the operation of any computer software or hardware.

You also agree:

  • Not to reproduce, duplicate, copy or re-sell any part of our sites in contravention of the provisions of our terms of website use (above).
  • Not to access without authority, interfere with, damage or disrupt:
    • • any part of our sites;
    • • any equipment or network on which our sites are stored;
    • • any software used in the provision of our sites; or
    • • any equipment or network or software owned or used by any third party.

INTERACTIVE SERVICES

We may from time to time provide interactive services on our sites, including, without limitation:

  • Chat rooms or forums
  • Livestreaming with potential to interact with host
  • Interactive learning games and activities (interactive services).

Where we do provide any interactive service, we will provide clear information to you about the kind of service offered, if it is moderated and what form of moderation is used (including whether it is human or technical). We will do our best to assess any possible risks for users (and in particular, for children) from third parties when they use any interactive service provided on our sites, and we will decide in each case whether it is appropriate to use moderation of the relevant service (including what kind of moderation to use) in the light of those risks. However, we are under no obligation to oversee, monitor or moderate any interactive service we provide on our sites, and we expressly exclude our liability for any loss or damage arising from the use of any interactive service by a user in contravention of our content standards, whether the service is moderated or not. The use of any of our interactive services by a minor is subject to the consent of their parent or guardian. We advise parents who permit their children to use an interactive service that it is important that they communicate with their children about their safety online, as moderation is not foolproof. Minors who are using any interactive service should be made aware of the potential risks to them.

Where we do moderate an interactive service, we will normally provide you with a means of contacting the moderator, should a concern or difficulty arise.

CONTENT STANDARDS

These content standards apply to any and all material which you contribute to our sites (contributions), and to any interactive services associated with them. You must comply with the spirit of the following standards as well as the letter. The standards apply to each part of any contribution as well as to its whole. Contributions must:

  • • Be accurate (where they state facts).
  • • Be genuinely held (where they state opinions).
  • • Comply with applicable law in the UK and in any country from which they are posted. Contributions must not:
  • • Contain any material which is defamatory of any person or any organisation, company or community group.
  • • Contain any material which is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory.
  • • Promote sexually explicit material.
  • • Promote violence.
  • • Promote discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, political affiliation, status or age.
  • • Infringe any copyright, database right or trade mark of any other person.
  • • Be likely to deceive any person.
  • • Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence.
  • • Promote any illegal activity.
  • • Be threatening, abuse or invade another’s privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
  • • Be likely to harass, upset, embarrass, alarm or annoy any other person.
  • • Be used to impersonate any person, or to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person.
  • • Give the impression that they emanate from us, if this is not the case.
  • • Advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse.

SUSPENSION AND TERMINATION

We will determine, in our discretion, whether there has been a breach of this acceptable use policy through your use of our sites.  When a breach of this policy has occurred, we may take such action as we deem appropriate.  Failure to comply with this acceptable use policy constitutes a material breach of the terms of use upon which you are permitted to use our sites, and may result in our taking all or any of the following actions:

  • • Immediate, temporary or permanent withdrawal of your right to use our sites.
  • • Immediate, temporary or permanent removal of any posting or material uploaded by you to our sites.
  • • Issue of a warning to you.
  • • Legal proceedings against you for reimbursement of all costs on an indemnity basis (including, but not limited to, reasonable administrative and legal costs) resulting from the breach.
  • • Further legal action against you.
  • • Disclosure of such information to law enforcement authorities as we reasonably feel is necessary.

We exclude liability for actions taken in response to breaches of this acceptable use policy.  The responses described in this policy are not limited, and we may take any other action we reasonably deem appropriate.

CHANGES TO THE ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY

We may revise this acceptable use policy at any time by amending this page. You are expected to check this page from time to time to take notice of any changes we make, as they are legally binding on you. Some of the provisions contained in this acceptable use policy may also be superseded by provisions or notices published elsewhere on our sites.

Complaints Policy

The Lorna Young Foundation (LYF) aims to provide its members, organisations and individuals with the best possible service. We positively welcome suggestions you may have for how we can improve our service.

Usually, a word with the person at the point of service delivery will suffice, should a problem arise. However, we recognise that from time to time there may be occasions when users of our services feel that the quality or level of service provided falls short of what they could reasonably expect. We also want to know about these occasions so that we can make good the problem and plan to avoid its repetition. If you have a complaint, we would like you to tell us about it.

This is what you should do:

  1. If you have a complaint to make, it should be made to the Directorwho will try to resolve the issue informally.
  2. If the issue is serious, or you are not satisfied after raising it with the Director, you should make a formal complaint.
  3. Your complaint should be made in writing, marked “Private & Confidential”, and sent to the Director who will acknowledge it in writing (normally within 7 days of receipt). Remember to keep a copy of your letter. If you need an interpreter or advocate to help you make your complaint, The LYF can arrange this for you.
  4. The Director shall – in consultation with a member of the Trustee Board – investigate the complaint. (See separate checklist).
  5. The Director shall communicate the results of the investigation to you within a reasonable time – normally 21 days.
  6. You have the right – if dissatisfied with the results of the inquiry – to put your case in writing or personally to a panel comprising at least three members from The LYF Trustee Board.
  7. If attending personally, you have the right to be accompanied by a friend or advocate to help put your case. (The panel also has the right to have an advisor present).
  8. The decision of the panel will be final.
  9. Where appropriate, The LYF will make a written apology to the complainant and agree any further action necessary to make good the cause of the complaint.
  10. All formal complaints and the response made to them will be recorded and filed in a secure place.
  11. The Trustee Board shall be informed by the Director at the first available meeting of the number and nature of any formal complaints and their outcome, and consideration will be given to the implications these have for the planning and management of future services annually, as part of The LYF’s self-evaluation.

This LYF complaints procedure will be publicised to organisations and individuals who use its services.

Whistle blowing policy

Under certain circumstances, employees have legal protection if they make disclosures about organisations for whom they work.

The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 prevents you from suffering a detriment or having your contract terminated for ‘whistle blowing’ and we take very seriously any concerns which you may raise under this legislation.

We, therefore, encourage employees to be alert to wrongdoing and to inform management of any concerns. Employees should raise an issue when they are just concerned, rather than wait for proof or investigate the matter themselves.

This policy gives some information about whistle blowing to assist employees in deciding whether any proposed action would be protected under the whistle blowing legislation and sets out the procedure to follow if employees reasonably believe that they have identified such malpractice.

It should be emphasised that this policy is intended to assist individuals who believe they have discovered malpractice or impropriety. It is not designed to question financial or business decisions taken by the LYF nor should it be used to reconsider any matters which have already been addressed under harassment, complaint, disciplinary or other procedures. Once the “whistle-blowing” procedures are in place, it is reasonable to expect staff to use them rather than air their complaints outside the organisation.

 The legislation applies to workers who follow the procedures laid down in the legislation (see below) in disclosing specific categories of malpractice relating to one or more of the following actions:

  • Financial malpractice or impropriety or fraud
  • A criminal offence
  • A failure to comply with a legal obligation
  • A miscarriage of justice
  • The endangering of an individual’s health and safety
  • Damage to the environment
  • Deliberate concealment of information relating to any of the above.

THOSE PROTECTED BY WHISTLE-BLOWING LEGISLATION

n order to benefit from the protection of the legislation, the whistleblower has to satisfy certain conditions.

  • Disclosure to the employer will be protected, provided that it is made in good faith and the whistleblower has a reasonable suspicion that the alleged malpractice has occurred, is occurring, or is likely to occur.
  • Disclosure to a regulator (eg Health and Safety Executive, Environment Agency, Charity Commission) will be protected where, in  addition, the whistleblower honestly and reasonably believes that the information and any allegation in it are substantially true.
  • Disclosure to other bodies is protected if, in addition to the tests for regulatory disclosures, it is reasonable in all the  circumstances and is not made for personal gain.

DISCLOSURE PROCEDURES

Employees should inform their line manager immediately if they become aware that any of the specified actions is happening (or has happened or is likely to happen). If the allegation is about the actions of their line manager, the employee should raise the issue with the Chairperson or, if s/he is their line manager, a Trustee.

Complaints against the Chairperson should be passed to a trusteewho will nominate an appropriate investigating officer.

The complainant has the right to bypass the line management structure and take their complaint direct to the Chairperson. The Chairperson has the right to refer the complaint back to management if he/she feels that the management without any conflict of interest can more appropriately investigate the complaint.

If there is evidence of criminal activity, then the investigating officer should inform the police. The LYF will ensure that any internal investigation does not hinder a formal police investigation.

Whistleblowers can ask for their concerns to be treated in confidence and this will be respected so long as it does not hinder or frustrate any investigation. However, the investigation process may reveal the source of the information and the individual making the disclosure may need to provide a statement as part of the evidence required.

Employees will not be penalised for informing management about any of the specified actions and will be protected from reprisals.

We encourage you to use the procedure if you are concerned about any wrongdoing at work.  If you make an allegation in good faith, which is not confirmed by subsequent investigation, no action will be taken against you. In making a disclosure you should exercise due care to ensure the accuracy of the information. However, if the procedure has not been invoked in good faith (e.g. for malicious reasons or in pursuit of a personal grudge), then it will make you liable to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal as may be appropriate in the circumstances.

This policy encourages individuals to put their name to any disclosures they make. Concerns expressed anonymously are much less credible, but they may be considered at the discretion of the organisation. In exercising this discretion, the factors to be taken into account will include:

  • The seriousness of the issues raised
  • The credibility of the concern
  • The likelihood of confirming the allegation from attributable sources

TIMESCALES

Due to the varied nature of these sorts of complaints, which may involve internal investigators and / or the police, it is not possible to lay down precise timescales for such investigations. The investigating officer should ensure that the investigations are undertaken as quickly as possible without affecting the quality and depth of those investigations.

That said, the LYF is committed to fully supporting staff, volunteers, trustees and partner organisations who feel compelled to make a complaint under this policy and, therefore, we will endeavour to ensure that complaints are concluded within 28 days, where possible. Where this is not possible, we will remain in regular contact with the complainant to ensure that s/he remains informed of progress and confident in our efforts to investigate and address the complaint.

The investigating officer, should within 5 working days of receiving a complaint, send a written acknowledgement of the concern to the complainant and, thereafter, report back to them in writing the outcome of the investigation and on the action that is proposed. If the investigation is a prolonged one, the investigating officer should keep the complainant informed, in writing, as to the progress of the investigation and as to when it is likely to be concluded.

All responses to the complainant should be in writing and sent to their home address.

INVESTIGATING

The investigating officer should follow these steps:

  • Full details and clarifications of the complaint should be obtained.
  • The investigating officer should inform the member of staff/trustee against whom the complaint is made as soon as is practically possible. The member of staff/trustee will be informed of their right to be accompanied by a trade union or other representative at any future interview or hearing held under the provision of these procedures.
  • The investigating officer should consider the involvement of the Police at this stage and should consult with the Chairperson.
  • The allegations should be fully investigated by the investigating officer with the assistance where appropriate, of other individuals / bodies.
  • A judgement concerning the complaint and validity of the complaint will be made by the investigating officer. This judgement will be detailed in a written report containing the findings of the investigations and reasons for the judgement. The report will be passed to the Chairperson as appropriate.
  • The Chairperson will decide what action to take. If the complaint is shown to be justified, then they will invoke the disciplinary or other appropriate Organisation procedures.
  • The complainant should be kept informed of the progress of the investigations and, if appropriate, of the final outcome.
  • If appropriate, a copy of the outcomes will be passed to the Board of Trustees to enable a review of the procedures.

f the complainant is not satisfied that their concern is being properly dealt with by the investigating officer, they have the right to raise it in confidence with the Chairperson (or other Trustee, if the Chairperson is involved or implicated in the complaint).

If the investigation finds the allegations unsubstantiated and all internal procedures have been exhausted, but the complainant is not satisfied with the outcome, the LYF recognises the lawful rights of employees and ex-employees to make disclosures to an appropriate organisation or body (such as the Health and Safety Executive, the Police, or regulators), or, where justified, elsewhere.

If complainants do not report their concerns to the LYF management or Chairperson they may take them direct to the appropriate organisation or body.