Poltimore Village Hall | Policies

COMPLAINTS POLICY
1. INTRODUCTION
Poltimore Village Hall is committed to providing a high quality service to everyone we deal with, however, we recognise that there may be times when things go wrong. We value all types of feedback about our service and will use complaints to help us to learn and continuously improve our service. This policy tells you how to go about making a complaint about our service and what response you can expect from us.

2. ABOUT THE POLTIMORE VILLAGE HALL COMMITTEE
The Poltimore Village Hall Committee is an independent charitable company founded in 2001.
We have a voluntary governing body, our Board of Trustees, in part elected by our full members at general meetings and in part appointed by bodies as designated in our company articles. Poltimore Village Hall was incorporated by a Deed of Trust in 2001.

3. WHAT KIND OF COMPLAINT CAN BE CONSIDERED?
Grounds for complaint include:
• Dissatisfaction with standards of service (for example, the quality of information provided to you, either verbally or in written form, or the manner in which that information was provided).
• Deficiencies in standards of service (which might include problems with accessibility or the cleanliness of the hall)
• Discrimination, harassment, bullying and victimisation.
• Other deficiencies in the quality of your experience with Poltimore Village Hall Committee

4. WHAT KIND OF COMPLAINT IS EXCLUDED?
The nature of what we do means that we often work in partnership or in association with a large number of organisations, groups and individuals. However we cannot respond to complaints about the public involvement work of others. We therefore suggest that such complaints be addressed to the organisation, group or individual concerned. Complaints made to Poltimore Village Hall Committee need to relate to the actions of those working as representatives of Poltimore Village Hall, for example volunteers.

5. HOW TO MAKE A COMPLAINT
Many concerns can be sorted out by discussing the problem with our Chairperson, and we would encourage you to try this first by phoning 07932 211538.

6. MAKING A COMPLAINT
Your complaint will be dealt with by the Chairperson of the Village Hall Committee. Therefore please put your complaint in writing and address it to: David Cook, c/o Poltimore Village Hall, Poltimore, EX4 0AR; bookings@poltimorevillage.org

It will help us if you can submit your complaint in writing with as much detail as possible, including any supporting documents or information. This helps us to understand the complaint more fully and to respond better to it. In addition, please include any suggestions you have as to how to resolve your complaint.
We treat all complaints seriously and you can expect to be treated with courtesy and fairness at all times. We will aim to resolve your complaint as quickly and as helpfully as possible.
We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within ten working days and you will receive a response within 20 working days of the receipt of your complaint. If for some reason we are unable to respond within 20 working days, we will contact you to explain why.
The Chairperson may discuss your complaint with any relevant parties (i.e. people directly involved in the complaint). However, we undertake to maintain full confidentiality beyond this and will not discuss you or your complaint with anyone outside Poltimore Village Hall Committee.
Date adopted 30th January 2019

CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY
All staff, volunteers, and management committee members of Poltimore Village Hall will strive to avoid any conflict of interest between the interests of the Organization on the one hand, and personal, professional, and business interests on the other. This includes avoiding actual conflicts of interest as well as the perception of conflicts of interest.
The purposes of this policy are to protect the integrity of the Organization’s decision-making process, to enable our stakeholders to have confidence in our integrity, and to protect the integrity and reputation of volunteers, staff and committee members.
Examples of conflicts of interest include:
1.    A committee member who is also a user who must decide whether fees from users should be increased.
2.    A committee member who is related to a member of staff and there is decision to be taken on staff pay and/or conditions.
3.    A committee member who is also on the committee of another organisation that is competing for the same funding.
4.    A committee member who has interests in a business that may be awarded a contract to do work or provide services for the organisation.
Upon appointment each committee member will make a full, written disclosure of interests, such as relationships, and posts held, that could potentially result in a conflict of interest. This written disclosure will be kept on file and it will be updated as appropriate.
In the course of meetings or activities, committee members will disclose any interests in a transaction or decision where there may be a conflict between the organisations best interests and the committee member’s best interests or a conflict between the best interests of two organisations that the committee member is involved with.
After disclosure, the committee member(s) concerned may be asked to leave the room for the discussion and may not be able to take part in the decision depending on the judgement of the other committee members present at the time.
Any such disclosure and the subsequent actions taken will be noted in the minutes.
This policy is meant to supplement good judgment, and staff, volunteers and management committee members should respect its spirit as well as its wording.
Any individual project or maintenance undertaken on behalf of The Village Hall Committee will require two independent quotes if the cost is in excess of £500-00. Otherwise one quote will be sufficient.
Date Adopted: 30th January 2019

DATA PROTECTION POLICY
INTRODUCTION
This policy outlines the way our website processes, stores and protects user data and sets out the obligations and requirements of Poltimore Village Hall Committee and website users.

THE WEBSITE
Poltimore Village Hall Committee will ensure that all necessary steps are taken to protect the privacy of users of our website. The website complies with all UK national privacy laws and requirements.
USE OF COOKIES
A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer’s hard drive. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.
We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about web page traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.
Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us. You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.

PERSONAL INFORMATION
Whilst using our website or services, you may be asked to provide personal information (name, address, email, bank details, etc.). We will ensure that all personal information supplied is held securely in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679, as adopted into UK law in the Data Protection Act 2018. You have the right at any time to request a copy of the personal information we hold on you. Should you wish to receive a copy of this, or would like to be removed from our database, please contact us by email: bookings@poltimorevillage.org, or post: David Cook, c/o Poltimore Village Hall, Poltimore,Exeter, EX4 0AR

INFORMATION COLLECTION AND USE
CHOOSING HOW WE USE YOUR DATA
With respect to your personal information that we may hold at any time, we commit to giving you the ability to:
•    Verify the information we hold by contacting our Bookings Clerk by email bookings@poltimorevillage.org or by post to the Village Hall address. Our security procedures mean that we will require proof of identity before we reveal information, including your e-mail address or your address.
•    Contact us (by the same method) to change, correct, or delete your personal information held by the Poltimore Village Hall Committee.
•    Your data will not be used for marketing purposes.

HOW LONG WILL WE KEEP YOUR DATA FOR?
Poltimore Village Hall Committee will not retain your personal information longer than necessary. We will, however in the circumstances given below, hold information you provide either:
•    While a serving member of The Poltimore Village Hall Committee or
•    When specified in the permissions you give us in relation to other services we provide or,
•    Where we have a legal or regulatory requirement to retain the data.
Poltimore Village Hall Committee will not give or sell your personal data to anyone without your prior agreement (other than to a General Data Protection Regulation compliant processor working on our behalf).
Date adopted 30th January 2019

PRIVACY POLICY
Poltimore Village Hall (the Charity) needs to keep certain information about its Trustees, Officers, Committee Members, Members, regular users, donors and occasional users to carry out its day-to-day operations, to meet its objectives and to comply with legal obligations.
The Charity is committed to ensuring that any personal data will be dealt with in line with current data protection legislation. To comply with the law personal information will be collected and used fairly, stored safely and not disclosed to any other person unlawfully.
The aim of this policy is to ensure that everyone handling personal data is fully aware of the requirements and acts in accordance with data protection procedures.
We will ensure that personal data will be:
 
1.    obtained fairly and lawfully and for a specific and lawful purpose
2.    adequate and relevant but not excessive
3.    accurate and kept up-to-date
4.    not held longer than necessary
5.    processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects
6.    subject to appropriate security measures
 
The Charity processes the following personal information – names addresses and contact details of the persons referred to above. The Charity will ensure that data will not be sold to companies or given to public organisations. Personal data will only be passed on to a third party with written consent, be processed for the purposes stated only, stored for informing potentially interested parties about events and activities where the data subject has given permission by opting in, be accurate and be kept up to date, be erased as soon as out of date or when not necessary, be kept in a safe place and where relevant on a computer which is password protected.
Date adopted 30th January 2019

SAFEGUARDING POLICY
This statement of policy and procedures applies to users of, and activities in, Poltimore Village Hall and its grounds and any ancillary activities which are the responsibility of the Village Hall Management Committee.
This policy is in place to protect all children and vulnerable adults regardless of gender, ethnicity, disability, sexuality, religion or faith.
The welfare of the child or vulnerable adult is paramount and is the responsibility of everyone. All children and vulnerable adults have the right to protection from abuse whether physical, verbal, sexual, bullying, exclusion or neglect.
All people associated with the Village Hall, and its use, have a responsibility for the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults. The Management Committee will endeavour to keep the premises safe for use.
No member of the Management Committee, village hall employees, outside contractors, hirers or volunteers will have unsupervised access to children or vulnerable adults unless in possession of appropriate clearance such as Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
The Management Committee will ensure that all hirers/users (professional bodies, clubs, organisations) of the Hall are aware that any safeguarding of children or vulnerable adults is the responsibility of the hirers.
Hirers of the hall who are working with children or vulnerable adults must have evidence, for inspection if requested, the necessary clearance is held.
Hirers of the hall for private celebrations ie birthday or wedding, do not require DBS clearance.
Hirers need to be aware that facilities such as the toilets might be shared with other groups and that appropriate supervision/arrangements should be made.
The Management Committee will ensure that hirers are made aware of their obligations under Village Hall and Recreation Ground the Licensing Act 2003 to ensure that alcohol is not sold to those under the age of 18 and that no children may be admitted to films or theatre productions when they are below the age classification for the film or show.
No entertainment of an adult or overtly sexual nature shall be permitted on the premises.
Acceptance of the Village Hall’s safeguarding policy is part of the agreed contract taken out on hiring the Hall. A copy of this policy is available on the Village Hall website. The policy will be reviewed on a regular basis.
Date adopted 30th January 2019

VILLAGE HALL RISK MANAGEMENT
This risk assessment follows the advice given by the HSE for small organizations.
Other hazards and risks may exist or may arise at a later date. The recommended incident book and reports/comments by users are ways of identifying any additional significant risks. If such hazards and risks are identified they should be assessed and recorded on the risk assessment document together with controls measures agreed.
The following is quoted/adapted from the HSE document.
The management committee undertake risk assessments of Poltimore Village Hall to control the risks to people who use the hall and are involved in its maintenance and upkeep.
The management committee do not have a legal requirement to record the findings of risk assessments as less than five people work at the hall.
However the management committee have determined that there are sound legal and business reasons to record the findings of the risk assessment, and to take steps to make sure that they are brought to the attention of those working or holding an event in the hall.
1.    To identify the hazards, Poltimore Village Hall representatives;
o Make use of HSE’s web pages for free health and safety advice and guidance for small businesses;
o Inspection around the Hall, car park and other areas noting things that might pose a risk; and;
o Speak to other users of the Hall, and to people who carried out work at the Hall, to learn from any observations and incidents.
2.    We then recorded who could be harmed by the hazards and how.
3.    We recorded what controls are in place to manage these risks and then compared these to the guidance on HSE’s website.
4.    We put the findings of the risk assessment into practice, writing down who is responsible for doing what, and by when. To tick off each action when it was completed and to record the date when it is done and has been resolved.
5.    The management Committee discuss the findings of the risk surveys and ensure appropriate risk controls are put into place. They also determined that the risk assessment would be available to all workers doing jobs at the Hall, and published on the website www.poltimorevillagehall.co.uk to be available to all users of the Hall. The Management Committee will review the risk assessment every year prior to the AGM held in October, or immediately if any changes occurred to the Hall or how the Hall was used.
The risk assessment has been customised to Poltimore Village Hall but it should be reviewed by the management committee to verify the information/make corrections/amendments as needed. Date adopted 28th October 2024