Complaints procedure
Source: gov.uk (2025-10-16)

How to make a complaint about the Government Internal Audit Agency’s service.

The Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA) is committed to giving professional, independent and objective advice and assurance to government and the public sector. We hope to always give the best possible service. However, we understand that sometimes there may be scenarios where we haven’t, and there is an opportunity for us to improve.

The GIAA has a two stage complaints process. We do all we can to resolve your complaint at the first stage, but if you are not satisfied with our response, or you are unhappy with the way we have handled your complaint, you can ask for your complaint to be reviewed. How to complain and details of our procedure are set out below, along with how you can expect us to handle your complaint.

How to make a complaint

All complaints must be submitted in writing, either by email or letter, using the contact details below:

xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx)

Correspondence TeamGovernment Internal Audit Agency10 Victoria StreetLondonSW1H 0NB

Please include your full name and contact details when submitting a complaint.

Your complaint must clearly state the nature of the issue you wish to highlight to GIAA and provide any relevant details or supporting documentation.

Complaints will be acknowledged within two working days of receipt.

To ensure that issues are dealt with properly, any complaint should be made to us as soon as possible. Usually, we cannot investigate a complaint if it is raised with us more than 12 months after the date of the event being complained about, or the date that it was brought to your attention; whichever is the later date.

What cannot be dealt with under our Complaints procedure

There are certain circumstances where disputes fall outside the scope of our complaint’s procedures.

The following are examples (not an exhaustive list) of issues that will not be addressed under our Complaints procedure:
- Comments about our internal policies or internal management decisions
- Decisions made by our clients because of the services provided by GIAA
- Issues relating employment, disciplinary or grievance processes at GIAA
- Raising issues, concerns and any activity that may be defined as fraud, bribery and corruption. Please see our How to report GIAA fraud, bribery and corruption page (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-to-report-giaa-fraud-bribery-and-corruption)
Our response

We will investigate your complaint and provide you with a full response swiftly, and no later than twenty working days after receiving your complaint.

If we are unable to provide you with a full reply within twenty working days, we will explain why, what we are doing and when you can expect a full reply.

If you’re not satisfied following our response:

Request an Internal Review. If you’re not satisfied by our response to your complaint, you can request an Internal Review. A senior member of staff, who was not involved in the handling of the original response will consider whether your complaint has been handled properly, whether our response was appropriate, and whether any further action is necessary.

You will be sent the outcome of this review into how your complaint was dealt with within twenty working days of submitting the request for an internal review.

If we are unable to provide you with a full reply within twenty working days, we will explain why, what we are doing and when you can expect a full reply.

Depending on the cause of your complaint, if following our response to the Internal Review you remain dissatisfied, you can contact the below:

Provision of Government services

You have the right to contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman if you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint. You can ask your Member of Parliament to contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (http://www.ombudsman.org.uk/)

You must go through your MP – you can’t approach the ombudsman directly. The ombudsman investigates complaints where government departments or other public bodies have not acted properly or fairly or have provided a poor service. Government departments must co-operate with the ombudsman by law.

Data Protection

If you think your data has been misused or that GIAA has not kept it secure, please contact us and tell us.

If you’re unhappy with our response, you can make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) (https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/data-protection-complaints/) or get advice from the ICO.

ICO Telephone: xx-xxxx-xxxx Textphone: xx-xxxx-xxxx Monday to Friday, 9am to 4:30pm Find out about call charges (https://www.gov.uk/call-charges)

Information Commissioner’s Office Wycliffe House Water Lane Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF

You can also chat online with an advisor (https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/contact-us-public/public-advice/).

The ICO can investigate your claim and take action against anyone who’s misused personal data.

You can also visit their website for information on how to make a data protection complaint (https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint).

Confidentiality

GIAA keeps all complaints confidential and will not disclose any personal information to any third party unless required by law. The privacy notice for GIAA (which documents how we will use your personal data) can be viewed here: Privacy Notice – Correspondence (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/privacy-notice-correspondence).