Submitting a Complaint

First, complain to the organisation

The first step is to submit your complaint to the organisation, and allow a reasonable period of time for it to respond. If you do not do so we will not be able to use our power to conduct an investigation in accordance with the Welsh Language Act.

Having received a response to your letter from the organisation, if you are not happy with the response received, or if you do not receive a response within a reasonable period of time, you may ask us to investigate the matter on your behalf.

Submit your complaint within 12 months

You will be expected to submit your complaint as soon as is reasonably possible. If you wish for us to conduct an investigation, you should submit your complaint within 12 months of the failure in question. We cannot conduct a statutory investigation having received a complaint about an incident which took place more than 12 months ago, though we can discuss it with the organisation in question.

When submitting your complaint to us, you should provide a copy of any letters or other related documents.

What will the Welsh Language Board do?

• We will record your complaint and acknowledge that we have received it. You will be informed of the name and contact details of the officer who will be dealing with your complaint

• It is possible that we will need to contact you in order to enquire about further information

• We will often be able to deal with a complaint successfully by discussing it with an organisation, without having to conduct a statutory investigation. We will usually therefore want to discuss your complaint with the organisation in question before considering whether or not to conduct a formal statutory investigation. We will request permission to share your details with the organisation in question, if you did not grant that permission when submitting your complaint. You do not have to grant this permission, but if you refuse it is possible that we will not be able to deal with your complaint fully

• If all parties cooperate fully and promptly, we will try to resolve complaints quickly. However we may choose to conduct a statutory investigation when necessary. We will inform you that we intend to do so and an officer will contact you to tell you what is happening during the investigation process. After the end of the investigation, you will receive a copy of our report which will note our conclusions and recommendations to the organisation

• If we are not able to resolve or investigate your complaint, or if we decide not to conduct an investigation, we will explain the reasons for this to you.

Contacting you