Data Protection and FOI Complaints

The University’s Commitment

The University takes seriously all its obligations under the Data Protection and Freedom of Information Acts and is committed to delivering a high quality, efficient and fair service to all applicants. However, if an applicant is unsatisfied with the way a request has been dealt with, they have the right to complain.

The University aims to handle complaints in a fair and efficient manner that encourages informal and early resolution. This procedure outlines the University’s process in dealing with complaints arising in handling requests.

Internal Complaints Procedure

The University will deal with all complaints received as quickly and effectively as possible and in any case, without undue delay.

Complaints should be raised as soon as possible, in writing to the Data Protection Officer, or Freedom of Information Officer. You should present full details of the nature of the complaint and it is helpful if you state what reasonable steps you believe should be taken to resolve the complaint.

The University will normally acknowledge receipt of the complaint withing 30 days of receipt. A full investigation will then be carried out into the complaint.

In order to ensure that a full and independent investigation is carried out, if the complaint is about the conduct of the Data Protection Officer or Freedom of Information Officer, then the complaint will be dealt with by the University Secretary.

A response will normally be provided within 20 working days. If the investigation is expected to take longer than 20 working days, the University will keep the applicant informed throughout the process and, where possible, provide an estimated response time.

External Complaints Procedure

If the applicant has exhausted the University’s complaints procedure as defined above and remains unsatisfied with the response provided by the University, they have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner. Applicants should contact the Information Commissioner directly via the ICO website.

If you would like to raise a complaint about data protection or Freedom of Information, please fill in the form below. Alternatively, you can email us at foi@harper-adams.ac.uk for complaints about Freedom of Information, or at dpo@harper-adams.ac.uk for data protection complaints.

Complaint Form