Making a complaint about top management in the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS)
Making a complaint about top management in the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS).
Top management in the NICS and its agencies mean the Head of the Civil Service, Permanent Secretaries and anyone in a Grade 3/Deputy Secretary position (or equivalent).
Reasons for your complaint
If you feel that, a member of top management has behaved in any of the following ways you can make a complaint:
- unprofessional judgement, unfairness, bias or prejudice
- giving advice that is misleading or inadequate
- refusing to answer reasonable questions
- discourtesy and failure to apologise properly for errors
How to make a complaint
You must set out your complaint by email or in writing to the relevant Departmental Complaints officer within three months of the incident that prompted the complaint.
You will need to provide:
- your full name and address
- full details of the complaint
The Departmental Complaints officers are listed below.
| Department | Complaints officer | Contact details |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Agriculture, Environment & Rural Affairs | The Director of Corporate Services | Room 117, Dundonald House, Belfast, BT4 3SB CSD.coordination@daera-ni.gov.uk |
| Department for Communities | Andrea Orr | Level 5, NINE Lanyon Place Belfast BT1 3LP andrea.orr@communities-ni.gov.uk Tel 028 9081 9410 |
| Department for the Economy | Rozzi Langford | Adelaide House, 39-49 Adelaide Street, Belfast BT2 8FD DfEMail@economy-ni.gov.uk Tel 028 9052 9900 |
| Department of Education | Gary Bennett | Rathgael House, 43 Balloo Road, Bangor BT19 7PR gary.bennett@education-ni.gov.uk Tel 028 9127 9331 |
| Department of Finance | Jonny McNaught | 2nd Floor Building 2, Craigantlet Buildings, Stoney Road, Belfast BT4 3SX dof.corporateservicesdivision@finance-ni.gov.uk Tel 028 9081 6715 |
| Department of Health | Fiona White | Castle Buildings, Stormont Estate, Belfast BT4 3SL complaints@health-ni.gov.uk |
| Department for Infrastructure | Donal Moran | Clarence Court, 10 -18 Adelaide Street, Belfast BT2 8GB donal.moran@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk Tel 028 9054 1112 |
| Department of Justice | Brendan Devlin | Governance Unit, Corporate Engagement & Communications Division, Justice Delivery Directorate, Department of Justice, Room B5.16, 5th Floor, Castle Buildings, Stormont Estate, Belfast, BT4 3SG Governance.Unit@justice-ni.x.gsi.gov.uk Tel 028 9052 2934 |
| Public Prosecution Service | Tracey McWilliams | Belfast Chambers, 93 Chichester Street, Belfast BT1 3JR resourcemanagement@ppsni.gov.uk |
| The Executive Office | Andy McCaw | TEO 5th Floor, Castle Buildings, Belfast, BT4 3SR andy.mccaw@executiveoffice-ni.gov.uk Tel 028 9037 8618 |
Your complaint will be acknowledged within three working days. It is not always possible to give a timescale for when you will receive a response, but you will be kept up-to-date.
All the information you provide will be handled sensitively, telling only those who need to know and following relevant data protection requirements.
Investigating your complaint
The Head of the Civil Service will deal with any complaints at Permanent Secretary, and Grade 3/Deputy Secretary or equivalent levels. The Head of the Civil Service may appoint a Permanent Secretary or a Grade 3 not involved in the complaint to investigate and prepare a report for a board of inquiry to consider.
A board of inquiry is made up of three senior civil servants, with no connection to the complaint, who have the experience and skills to deal with complaints about top management.
The board will look at the facts of the complaint and consider all relevant information including details of any investigation that has been carried out. The board will then bring a final report on their findings to the Head of the Civil Service, who will make the final decision on the outcome of the complaint.
You will be told about the outcome of your complaint as soon as possible.
Complaints about the Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service will be brought to the Permanent Secretary of the Scottish Government.
All external complaints will be considered as raised in good faith even if judged unfounded after investigation. However, if there is evidence that you are making vexatious or malicious use of the procedure your complaint will not be progressed.
If you're not satisfied by the response
If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of your complaint you can ask the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman (NIPSO) to look at your case by clicking on the link below.