B3124 PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATE IN OMBUDSMAN AND COMPLAINT HANDLING PRACTICE

B3124 PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATE IN OMBUDSMAN AND COMPLAINT HANDLING PRACTICE Approved by the Ombudsman Association Location: London Date: 28 30 June 2016, 0915-1645 Contact: Carol Brennan Director, Consumer Dispute Resolution Centre School of Arts, Social Sciences and Management Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh EH21 6UU 0131 474 0000 cbrennan@qmu.ac.uk www.qmu.ac.uk 1

Introduction The Consumer Dispute Resolution Centre at Queen Margaret University (QMU) is delighted to be running the Professional Certificate in Ombudsman and Complaint Handling Practice. This 3 day non-residential course, approved by the Ombudsman Association, is designed to provide theory, discussion and the application of practice relating to a number of subject areas relevant to the work of ombudsmen and other second-tier complaint handling organisations. As such, it may be of equal interest to both relatively new and more experienced complaint handlers who are interested in exploring these particular areas. Course content: Day 1: Appropriate dispute resolution: theory and practice the principles of appropriate dispute resolution the different models, including negotiation, mediation and arbitration in appropriate circumstances, resolve complaints without full investigation Day 2: The principles of effective remedy understand the legal principles of individual remedy understand the options for extra-legal remedy, including options for systemic remedy apply acknowledge in investigations Day 3: Human rights and equality the basic elements of human rights, equality and other relevant law the relevance of rights and equality principles to complaint handling adopting a rights and equality sensitive approach to investigation and remedy On all three days we will also be considering issues relating to the current challenges and opportunities facing ombudsmen and other complaint handling schemes, and will also look at what might happen in the future. Cost and how to Register The cost per delegate is 1,200 which includes all course material, registration as a student of QMU, access to the Hub virtual learning platform, tutor support, course assessment, quality assurance, refreshments and lunch on the course. As a matriculated student of QMU, you will enjoy the usual benefits of access to an extensive range of electronic library resources, many other University resources and, if you apply for a student card, student discounts. To register for a place, please contact cdrc@qmu.ac.uk. Pre-Course Work Course participants will be required to each prepare a 500 word summary on their scheme/their complaint handling experience to date - to be submitted in advance and shared with other course participants via the Hub, the University s virtual learning platform. There will also be some pre-course reading. Details of the pre-course work will be sent to participants approximately two weeks in advance of the course start date together with the instructions on how to use the Hub. Post-Course Assignment The course is assessed by the submission of a post-course 3,000 word assignment eight weeks after completing the 3 days of training. Participants will produce an essay or report on a subject relevant to their interests and connected to their own work which will be pre- 2

approved by the course leader. The aim of the assignment is to provide participants with an opportunity to demonstrate their competence in the application of learning from the course, their own experience and guided research support from the course tutors. On successful completion of the course, participants will receive a Record of Achievement together with an official transcript from QMU sent to their designated contact address. Assessments for the Professional Certificate in Ombudsman and Complaint Handling Practice are subject to moderation by QMU academic staff and by an external examiner. Marks are ratified by a Board of Examiners. Quality is overseen by the School Academic Board which requires periodic reports on the effectiveness of the arrangements for learning, teaching and assessment. ABOUT QUEEN MARGARET UNIVERSITY Queen Margaret University has a proud history of achievement and progress extending for over a century. Founded in 1875, the institution has always been driven by the highest ideals and purposes, focusing on contributing in practical ways to improving the quality of life and serving the community. Colleagues are dedicated to delivering vocational and professional learning and specialising in research which is of value to the community and enhances people s lives. QMU is a leader in relation to the application of IT to teaching, Features of the IT provision include remote access which provides web access to email, files and software from anywhere in the world and the Hub Virtual Learning Platform.The University learning resource services are designed to meet the needs of all students whether they study on or at a distance to the campus. By making full use of e-learning, we can design courses that support students who have work and other life commitments. The university library holds 111,000 books, 590 print journals and provides access to over 130 electronic databases and 10,300 electronic journals. The Consumer Dispute Resolution Centre (CDRC) at QMU has unique expertise in consumer insight developed over 25 years, experience of research, CPD training and consultancy in customer service, complaint investigation, complaint handling, consumer regulation, marketing and consumer policy. More recently, the CDRC has provided ombudsman and complaint handling practice training for over 2,000 delegates from a wide range of ombudsman and complaint handling organisation in the UK, Ireland and internationally. The CDRC also delivers a range of other courses, including the online MSc in Dispute Resolution which is the worlds first Masters programme created for professional complaint handling staff. Quality Assurance For all aspects of learning, teaching and research, Queen Margaret University operates its own policies and procedures for the management of academic quality and standards, within a framework of published guidelines and periodic external review conducted by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA). The QAA monitors our adherence to codes of practice for the sector, covering activities such as research and consultancy. 3

INFORMATION ABOUT THE COURSE TEAM CAROL BRENNAN is a Reader in Consumer Policy and Director of the Consumer Dispute Resolution Centre at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, and is the Module Co-ordinator for the Professional Certificate in Ombudsman and Complaint Handling Practice. Carol is an experienced academic and has provided leadership for several research and commercial projects, including the Ombudsman Association, the Financial Ombudsman Service, the Legal Ombudsman, the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) and the Police Complaints Commissioner for Scotland, the International Ombudsman Institute, the African Ombudsman Research Centre, Directorate General Health and Consumers, (DG SANCO), National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (Nesta), Care Inspectorate and Audit Scotland. Her research interests are mainly in the field of consumer policy with particular reference to consumer empowerment, complaint handling and customer service. Carol s publications include Models of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) published by the Legal Ombudsman in 2014; Grumbles, Gripes and Grievances; the role of complaints in transforming public services published by Nesta in 2013; The future of ombudsman schemes: drivers for change and strategic responses published by the Legal Ombudsman in 2013, and the Outcome of complaints research for the Care Inspectorate published in 2013. Carol is Chair of the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission Consumer Panel. She is also Chair of the Chartered Trading Standards Institute Qualifications and Awards Board and the Examinations and Assessment Board. She is developing the Consumer Dispute Resolution Centre at QMU as a centre of excellence for CPD, research, knowledge exchange, and consultancy in Ombudsman and complaint handling practice and consumer policy. CAROLYN HIRST has expertise in dispute prevention, management and resolution. She is a part-time Lecturer at QMU where she provides leadership for the content and delivery of the Professional Award and Certificate in Ombudsman and Complaint Handling Practice. Carolyn also had strong involvement in the development and delivery of the Foundation Award in Ombudsman Practice for the Legal Ombudsman for England and Wales. She also contributed to the development and delivery of the Police Complaints Commissioner for Scotland Certificate in Complaint Handling Practice, Complaint Investigation Training for the Welsh Language Commissioner and the Introduction to Complaint Handling Practice in Further and Higher Education. Carolyn is a former Deputy Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, a post held from the formation of this Office in September 2002 until 2007. During this period she developed well regarded guidance on Apology and Dealing with Unacceptable Actions. Before that she worked in Social Rented Housing for nearly 20 years, latterly as a Deputy Director of a Housing and Care Organisation. Carolyn is an accredited and practising Mediator. She is a member of the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission Mediation Panel and the Edinburgh Sheriff Court Mediation Panel. MARGARET DOYLE is a consultant in appropriate dispute resolution (ADR) and has worked with several voluntary-sector organisations involved in access to justice, including the Public Law Project, Advice Services Alliance and Consumer Voice. She is currently Senior Research Officer with the UK Administrative Justice Institute (www.ukaji.org), funded by the Nuffield Foundation and based at Essex University. She has carried out research on ADR, including a study of mediation and judicial review (Public Law Project) and a mapping survey of the use of informal resolution by ombudsmen (www.ombudsresearch.org.uk). She is also an independent mediator specialising in disability discrimination and special educational needs disputes involving parents, schools and local authorities. She has served as a non-executive director with several ombudsmen schemes, including Ombudsman Services, the Legal Ombudsman for England and Wales, and the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education 4

(also England and Wales). She is currently a member of the ADR Sub-committee of the Board of The Dispute Service and is Independent Complaint Reviewer for the consumer adjudication schemes of the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR). Margaret is an individual associate member of the Ombudsman Association (OA). SUSANNA REECE qualified as a solicitor in 1985. After a career in private practice she moved into professional regulation and complaints handling, initially with the Solicitors Complaints Bureau. With the creation of the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors in 1996 Susanna became Specialist Training Advisor, leading on training strategy for complaints handling. Susanna formed Stile Associates, an independent consultancy, in 2001, to provide training and support for those working in complaints handling and professional regulation. She also worked for the Office for the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) between 2004 and 2012, helping to establish the new scheme for student complaints, working as part of the Senior Management Team and subsequently as a Deputy Adjudicator. In November 2012 she provided in-country consultancy to the Serbian Ombudsman in Belgrade. Her current clients include ICRS, who provide an independent review service for the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, and the Financial Services Complaints Commissioner, who investigates complaints about the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority/Bank of England. Susanna has been a Visiting Lecturer at the Consumer Dispute Resolution Centre, Queen Margaret University since 2009, providing training for a wide range of schemes on the Professional Certificate in Ombudsman and Complaint Handling Skills. She was also a member of the Ombudsman Association Accreditation Working Group that helped to develop the pilot Award and Certificate programmes. She is now an Individual Associate Member of the OA. DR NICK O BRIEN qualified as a solicitor in 1987. After a period in private practice he was appointed Legal Adviser to the Legal Services Ombudsman for England and Wales where he became Deputy Ombudsman in 1999. In 2000, Nick took up the post of Legal Director at the Disability Rights Commission where he had responsibility for the litigation, strategic enforcement, casework, conciliation, best practice and telephone advice services. He was a member of the senior management team and convenor of the Legal Committee. He also represented the DRC on the DTI Task Force to set up the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the Attorney General s Equality Advisory Panel, and the Public Legal Education Task Force. Nick has worked as part-time Legal Policy Adviser to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman and as interim Director of Policy and Public Affairs.. He is also a part-time Judge in the Mental Health Review Tribunal and in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal, and an Honorary Research Fellow in the Law School at Liverpool University. In 2014 he was Specialist Adviser to the House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee inquiries into complaints about public services and into the future of the Parliamentary Ombudsman. In 2015 he completed the World Health Organisation international diploma in mental health and human rights at the Institute for Mental Health and Human Rights at the College of Law, Pune, India. Nick has published several articles in academic journals on ombudsmen, human rights and disability rights. He was a member of the editorial board of The Ombudsman between 2000 and 2007 and has regularly contributed articles. Nick has delivered training on human rights and disability rights for the Parliamentary Ombudsman, the Local Government Ombudsman and the Northern Ireland Ombudsman. He also regularly represented the Parliamentary Ombudsman on the Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council and at Council of Europe and European Ombudsman events. 5

B3124: PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATE IN OMBUDSMAN AND COMPLAINT HANDLING PRACTICE, 28 30 June 2016, London BOOKING INFORMATION For course enrolment purposes please provide ALL the following information by email to: cdrc@qmu.ac.uk Name of organisation: Last name of delegate: First name of delegate: Gender of delegate: Date of birth of delegate: Email address of delegate: Dietary requirements (e.g. vegan, vegetarian, gluten free etc.): Please detail any specific requirements you need to participate in the course (e.g. wheelchair access, coloured paper, large font etc.): Payment of course fee Please indicate below with a tick ( ) how your course fee will be paid: Self-funding if you are paying for the course yourself then an invoice will be sent to your home/contact address Organisation/employer if your organisation/employer is paying for your course fee then please provide the following information for invoice purposes: o Contact name: o Contact email: o Department: o Postal address: o Purchase Order No: if applicable: 6

Please note that payment must be made prior to the start of the course. Matriculation Once you have submitted this form you will be sent information by our Registry Department regarding the online matriculation process which you MUST complete. Contact Our Administrator for the ombudsman courses, Lubna Ali, can help with enquiries about payment or any other questions about the course you may have. She can be contacted on cdrc@qmu.ac.uk Substitutions Named substitutions will be accepted. Requests should be made in writing to cdrc@qmu.ac.uk Cancellation/Postponement by Queen Margaret University (QMU) QMU reserves the right to postpone or cancel any programme due to an insufficient number of delegates. QMU also reserves the right to cancel any programme due to any reason beyond its control. In the event of postponement or cancellation by QMU, delegates will be offered the choice of a full refund or a place on the next available course. If you have any questions about the course, please do not hesitate to contact Carol Brennan at cbrennan@qmu.ac.uk or phone 0131 474 0000 and, as this is voice activated, ask clearly for Carol Brennan. 7