NCPS Complaints & Concerns Procedure

As a professional association, and holder of an Accredited Register for counsellors and psychotherapists, the NCPS is committed to promoting and providing high standards in the practice of counselling, psychotherapy and associated therapies.

We understand that the people using the services of counsellors and psychotherapists, who are members of the NCPS, may have a range of different issues and a range of experiences of working with our members.

We encourage constructive feedback about these experiences, and we invite people, especially including our members’ clients, to tell us about their experiences.

We believe in listening to the voices of both clients and of therapists and in the sharing of these viewpoints and opinions. We believe that each group has much to learn, both from the positive experiences of therapy as well as from times when things have not worked out as planned or hoped.

We are aware that the professional therapeutic relationship in some forms of counselling and therapy necessarily involves the exploration of difficulties and lapses within the relationship itself. We therefore seek to avoid an unnecessarily ‘legalistic’ approach to dealing with complaints.

We are also aware that therapists can overstep therapeutic boundaries and breach our Code of Ethics, and this needs to be addressed proportionately, fairly, and transparently and in a way that protects the public.

Ideally every effort should be made to resolve the issue with the member before raising a formal complaint, but only if the circumstances are appropriate and you feel comfortable in doing so.

We are also aware of the stress caused by any party involved in a complaints process. In addition, processes which become formal can be time consuming and last many months due to the need to follow proper evidential procedures. Where possible, therefore, we will see whether an informal resolution of your complaint or concern is appropriate. This could include our informally discussing your concern or complaint with the member, or a referral to mediation.

In addition, we employ in many complaints something called ‘Consensual Disposal’. This happens where one of our Panels looks at the evidence and offers the member the chance to admit they have breached our Code of Ethics and accept appropriate sanctions. It should be stressed that this is not a ‘plea bargain’. The member is only offered those sanctions which the Panel believes would have been imposed at a formal complaints hearing. Consensual Disposal is offered purely to allow both parties to reach an appropriate ending to the proceedings in the least stressful way possible. “Consensual Disposal” can include “Voluntary Removal” where a member is offered the chance to admit they have breached the Code of Ethics and be removed from their membership of the Society.

Of course, there is still the possibility for certain complaints that a full, formal process is required and for this we use an Independent Complaints Panel. More details about that can be found below.

You don’t have to understand our Code of Ethics or procedures to make a complaint or raise a concern. Our Professional Conduct Officers are here to listen to you and discuss with you what kind of steps are likely to happen. If appropriate, you will be given choices, such as trying an informal resolution or mediation.

Let’s set out the steps in our process. Of course, your complaint may not follow all of these steps.

Your Role in Our Process If you wish to raise a complaint or concern, your role in our process is primarily as a witness, who is providing us with information that’s relevant to one of our members’ practice as a counsellor or psychotherapist.

You’re not expected to know or understand our Code of Ethics, and you don’t have to try and “make a case” by using any legal arguments. You just have to provide us with information in good faith and let us follow our process. If your complaint goes as far as a formal panel hearing, you don’t have to take a role in “prosecuting” your complaint – that’s the job of the Society.

We will support you as much as possible, whatever you decide to do.

a. Contacting the Society

The quickest way to contact us is to email conduct@ncps.com. You may also call us on 01903 213683 or write to the Professional Conduct Department, National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society, 19 Grafton Road, Worthing, BN11 1QT

Kindly note we cannot offer a crisis service.

Our Professional Conduct Managers deal with all aspects of raising a complaint or concern. In the first instance, they are here to listen to what you have to say. It’s up to you whether you write to the Society, or phone. If you have any difficulties communicating or even wish another person to act on your behalf or support you, that’s fine. You don’t have to fill in a particular form.

Please note that anything you write to the Society could be disclosed to the member. Also, please note that if you disclose a significant safeguarding risk or risk to the public, we may have to act on this. Please speak with a Professional Conduct Manager if you have any concerns about protecting your anonymity

b. The PCM will perform a basic membership test.

We can always consider complaints or concerns where the person you wish to complain about is a member of the Society, and also they were a member at the time your complaint covers. We may be able to consider complaints if the person you’re wishing to complain about is no longer a member but was at the time your complaint covers.

For this to happen, we have to decide that it would be in the public interest to pursue your complaint and that there was a reasonable chance of being able to gather evidence given that the person is no longer a member. If the person being complained about was not a member at the time of the behaviour being complained about, but they are a current member, the PCM will determine whether it would be reasonable and in the public interest to consider the complaint.

An example of this might be serious professional misconduct, such as a sexual relationship with a client. However, if they were a member of another professional association at the time of the behaviour being complained about, you may be asked to contact the relevant organization instead. We would not normally consider a complaint which relates to anything over three years old. However, in some cases the complaint will be investigated if the PCM determines that it is in the public interest to do so.

If the person you’re complaining about isn’t a registrant (a fully professional member of the Society), but another kind of member, for example, a student, we may follow a different process – for example, by referring your complaint to their training school. We’ll talk about this more at the end of this document.

If the person complained about is not a current member, we may not be able to make a final decision about whether we can proceed with the complaint until it progresses to Step 2. You will be informed if this is the case.

c. The PCM will record the basic details of your concern or complaint.

Either by talking with you or in writing, the PCM will listen to your complaint and take down the basic facts. It’s a good idea if you’re able to provide us with essential details like name, dates, location, and the basic information about what you feel went wrong. At this stage you don’t have to write in a detailed complaint, but you can do so if you wish.

Here the PCM will also determine your ‘standing’ in relation to the complaint. Are you a client of the member, or a colleague, for example a supervisor, manager or work colleague, or a third party?

They will also want to know if you’ve raised your complaint or concern elsewhere, for example with another Accredited Register, at work, or with a statutory authority.

The PCM will determine what you want to do and how you wish to proceed.

You’ll be asked if you want to proceed to the next step of the process, assuming that the basic membership test (Step 1 B) has been passed. If you do, the Professional Conduct Manager will tell you what further information they need to go on to the next step, and you don’t have to make a decision straight away. Reviewing Step 1 If a PCM decides that it’s not in the public interest to take your complaint forward because it’s not about a current member it’s about a current member, but the behaviour happened before they were a member the case is over three years old then you may request a review of Step 1. The review will be carried out by an independent Review Manager whose decision will be final. If a PCM decides that there is no prospect of gathering sufficient evidence to proceed, then you cannot ask for a review of this decision, and their decision is final.

In this step, the Professional Conduct Manager will review your complaint or concern in more detail, to make sure that it can proceed further. This might take a little time. The Professional Conduct Manager will apply a number of tests to determine whether or not the Society can go forward with your complaint.

Your Evidence and its Disclosure

The PCM at any time during this step may request from you a full, detailed written statement together with any evidence you wish to disclose before they can proceed with your complaint. If this is not provided, the PCM may end the complaints process. Your statement, together with evidence you provide, may be disclosed to the member you are complaining about at any stage during this process. You will be asked to provide your consent to disclose your statement and evidence to the member. If there is a significant public protection issue, your statement and evidence could be disclosed without your consent. If you have concerns about this, please talk to the PCM prior to providing us your information. If you are intending to provide information anonymously then please note that disclosing it could lead to your identification (for example, the member works out who has sent the information from its content or context.) It could also mean that we can’t follow our complaints process and that, while we may use the information you provide to safeguard our register, you will not be informed of any further steps we may wish to take.

A. Has a criminal offence been committed, or likely to have been committed?

If there is evidence of criminality, the Professional Conduct Manager may advise you to contact the Police. In certain circumstances they will also do so themselves. As part of this process, the Professional Conduct Manager may immediately apply an interim Suspension Order on the member to protect the public quickly. They then have to have their decision to suspend the member ratified by an Assessment Panel within 2 weeks. If criminal proceedings are likely or on-going, our complaints procedure will await the outcome. In some cases the member will then be removed from our Register on conviction as they will no longer meet the terms and conditions of registration.

Custodial Sentences Where a member is given a custodial sentence this means that they no longer meet the requirements for registration or membership, and both their registration and membership will be revoked. Disclosure of any custodial sentence being served to the Society is required by any member so convicted. On receipt of evidence that a member is serving a custodial sentence, the Professional Conduct Manager shall immediately suspend the member, and then shall provide this evidence to the Chair of the Assessment Panel who will authorise the permanent removal of registration and membership. A member serving a custodial sentence may not appeal this decision as they no longer meet the requirements for Society membership.

B. Should another process be followed first, or instead?

The Professional Conduct Manager will determine if there are other processes that should be followed before the Society’s complaints procedures. This is because it might not be appropriate for the Society to get involved in a complaint before another process is complete. Examples of this include, but are not limited to:

i. A complaint has already been made to another Accredited Register or professional association.

It would not be appropriate to run two complaints processes at the same time. In the case where complaints are submitted simultaneously, the Professional Conduct Manager may decide to allow another process to complete first, and to talk to the other organisation about how best to proceed. Standard 10e of the Professional Standards Authority’s Accredited Registers programme means that the Society is required to take into account the decisions of other registers. If your complaint is heard by another register, it is likely that we will follow the decision of the other Register. The law, following a High Court decision, states that we cannot hear the same complaint if it has gone before another professional association as this would violate the legal rights of the member not to be “tried twice” for the same issue.

ii. A complaint has been, or should be, made to a statutory authority.

If a complaint has already been made to such an authority, then the Society will await the outcome of that process. If it should be made to a statutory authority, the Professional Conduct Manager will advise you accordingly.

iii. A complaint has been, or should be, made to an employer, agency, EAP, line manager, or similar.

If a such a complaint has been made then the Society will await the outcome of that process. If it should be, the Professional Conduct Manager will advise you accordingly.

iv. The member is a student and the matter should be referred to their placement provider and/or training provider first.

v. The member has posted on social media and the complaint should be made to the social media platform (or if relevant, to the Police).

Generally the Society will ask complaints about social media posts to first go through the appropriate platform channels or the authorities if relevant.

C. Is this within the scope of our Code of Ethics?

The Professional Conduct Manager will make an initial determination on whether or not your complaint is within the scope of our Code of Ethics. It’s not their role to decide that there has been a breach or that this has been proved– that would be for our Panels to decide. The PCM will give due consideration as to whether your complaint would be the kind of thing which falls under our Code of Ethics. Our Code is primarily designed to deal with the member’s actions with a client. There are limited times when we could consider hearing a complaint not connected with client work, for example, something ‘likely to bring the profession into disrepute.’ We do not however, as a general rule, follow a complaints process unless there has been direct impact on a member’s actual client work, other than in specific circumstances.

‘Bringing the profession into disrepute’ is a high threshold. What we mean by this is, for example, just because a member was rude to you in their personal life does not mean that they would ‘bring the profession into disrepute’. It generally means that their actions, if known, would be considered to be so seriously inappropriate for a counsellor that it would undermine how the public views counselling as a profession. An example of this might be domestic abuse. Another example is things members may say or positions they may hold on social media. Generally these are outside of the scope of our Code of Ethics unless there is clear evidence of, for example, hate speech, libel or criminality.

D. Would this be an ‘excluded category’?

There are some issues which our complaints process does not handle because it is not equipped to do so, or because it would not be appropriate to do so. Examples of excluded categories include, but are not limited to:

i. Adjunctive Therapies. This is where the complaint is about a member, but there was no element of counselling, psychotherapy or one of the therapies we register in your experience as a client. For example, if you went to see a member for aromatherapy treatment, we could not hear your complaint about the quality of that treatment. If, however, your client sessions involved both aromatherapy and counselling, we could. The only exception to this rule would be if the member’s aromatherapy work would ‘bring the profession into disrepute.’ For example, if you saw them for pure aromatherapy work but they crossed significant professional boundaries. We would normally expect under such circumstances for your primary complaint to be to the professional association for the treatment you received.

ii. Private Life. We do not normally hear complaints about a member when they are acting outside of their professional role. If for example, you have a legal or custodial dispute with a member, we would refer you back to use the appropriate legal remedies. Private social media posts which are separate from the member’s online profile as a counsellor are also normally excluded. Again, ‘bringing the profession into disrepute’ would be relevant here.

iii. Financial Disputes and Debts. Whereas we may be able to act as an informal ‘go-between’ if you feel, for example, that you deserve a refund for poor services from one of our members, and are happy to discuss that with them, we are not able to hear complaints relating to financial matters, disputes or debts. Our complaints process can’t rule, for example, that you should get a refund. Our Professional Conduct Manager can discuss other approaches you could take.

iv. Disputes between therapists. Our process is not designed to deal with disputes between therapists; for example, an argument over how another therapist is running their practice. The exception to this is where, as another therapist, you have evidence of client harm.

v. Third Party Complaints. We cannot hear complaints made by or on behalf of another professional body, as part of a professional dispute, or where complaints are made as part of wider litigation. Complaints about clients who do not agree with the complaint proceeding or who have no knowledge of the complaint may fall into this category on a case by case basis.

vi. On-going custody disputes. Complaints made about members working with minors in the context of an on-going custody or access dispute will be referred back to the Court.

vii. Family disputes without a legal element. We cannot hear complaints based upon family disputes over therapy provided to another family member; for example, where parents are in dispute over therapy provided to a minor in their care.

viii. No client impact. We cannot hear complaints which have no direct impact on past, present or future clients, with the exception of ‘bringing the profession into disrepute.’

ix. Overseas practice. Overseas practice may be excluded at the discretion of the Society; for example if a foreign professional body should hear the complaint in lieu of the Society.

x. Advertising. We deal with member advertising issues by approaching the member and, if advertising appears to be inaccurate or misleading, giving them a set time to change their advertising. If your complaint is about a member’s advertising, this is what we’ll do. We may also advise you to report the advert to the Advertising Standards Authority. If a member knowingly and repeatedly conducts false advertising then the Society could suspend their registration.

xi. Freedom of Speech. Our Code of Ethics protects our members’ rights to free speech.

xii. Vexatious. A complaint is ‘vexatious’ when it is being done in bad faith; for example, by a complainant who submits multiple complaints against members they don’t know, or where there is evidence that the complaint is submitted as part of a wider picture of harassment; or when the complainant communicates in an unreasonable manner with the Society in line with our inappropriate communication policy.

E. Is there a reasonable prospect of gathering evidence?

The Professional Conduct Manager will make sure that there is a reasonable prospect of gathering the evidence they would need for your case to go ahead. This is because, for example, should your complaint go to an Assessment Panel they will want to see what evidence there is and whether this is sufficient for them to make a decision. A complaint can proceed just with a written statement, but the Professional Conduct Manager will need to make sure the basic facts are sufficient should your complaint go ahead.

Ei. Evidence and Couples/Group Counselling The Society can hear a complaint about couples/group counselling from one of the clients involved. However, whereas we can accept a complaint from only one side of a couples counselling session, it may be determined that due to the non response (or opposition) of another client that there is no prospect of gathering sufficient evidence to proceed with the complaint. This will be assessed on a case by case basis and the threshold for proceeding with a couples counselling complaint where only one client is participating will be based upon the public protection element of the complaint together with the impact of the lack of evidence provided by the other party on the prospects for the complaint’s success.

F. Is this affected by anonymity?

If you wish to remain anonymous, the Professional Conduct Manager will decide what to do. If your anonymity would prevent there being a reasonable prospect of the case proceeding then your complaint may not be able to proceed. For example, if a member can’t ask who the client was or be able to ask questions in a complaints hearing, it is unlikely that the hearing could uphold the complaint. We can still take anonymous concerns forward under a different route, which we call Acting on Evidence (AOE). This is where you are no longer the complainant because you wish to remain anonymous. However, this might risk disclosing information to the member that reveals your identity and the Professional Conduct Manager will discuss the implications of this with you, especially any safeguarding concerns. If you choose to remain anonymous we will not involve you in any further steps we take on the basis of your evidence

G. Are there Equality Act implications?

If your complaint involves being discriminated against for a protected characteristic, such as race, gender, religion, age or ability, we will ensure you are supported. You may be advised to contact the Equality Advisory Support Service on 0800 800 0082 for further advice on the options available to you, and we will make sure that this aspect of your concern or complaint is dealt with properly.

H. Is this suitable for an informal resolution?

The last test which the Professional Conduct Manager will apply is to determine whether or not your complaint would be appropriate for informal resolution. This would only be done with your consent and could involve an informal discussion between the Professional Conduct Manager and the member, or an external mediation process. Informal resolution has to be agreed by both parties. For example, you may decide that you just want a refund and an apology. The member may agree with you and that will close the matter. The member however may disagree with you and will instead exercise their rights to a full complaints process. The PCM’s role is to decide whether informal resolution is appropriate. There are situations where you may wish to seek informal resolution but the PCM determines that the member’s behaviour is likely too serious (if agreed by a Panel) for this to be appropriate. You will be advised whether or not informal resolution is something you’d like to consider.

I. Should the Member be suspended?

In cases where the Professional Conduct Manager has received evidence of a very serious breach of our Code of Ethics, and forms the view that continued registration risks causing public harm, they may issue an interim Suspension Order to the Member and remove them temporarily from the Society’s Register. Issuing a suspension order does not mean a member has been found guilty of any breach of the Code. The Professional Conduct Manager will need their suspension order ratified by the Chair of the Assessment Panel within 2 weeks of their decision, in which case it will remain in place until the conclusion of the complaints process. (The Professional Conduct Manager may issue an interim Suspension Order at any step of this process.) A suspension may also occur where a member has been practising as if they are a registrant (fully professional member) when they’re not – for example, where they hold student membership but are seeing private clients as if they’re a registrant. After performing these screening steps, the Professional Conduct Manager will contact you to explain their decision about if, and how, your complaint or concern can proceed. This concludes Step 2.

Reviewing Step 2

There are no reviews possible for Step 2 of the Process, and the Society’s decision is final. This is because, at this stage of the process, the Professional Conduct Manager is applying a series of standard tests to determine whether or not your complaint falls under our remit, whether it’s relevant to our Code of Ethics, and whether or not it should be held elsewhere, or falls into an excluded category.

We’ll Contact the Member and get their response.

A. If your complaint does now proceed, the Professional Conduct Manager will contact the member and disclose the details of your complaint. The member will be required to respond to your complaint in writing, even if you just want an informal resolution. This is because if the informal resolution isn’t successful, their response can be included in further steps.

B. The Professional Conduct Manager will tell the Member if you wish to attempt an informal resolution to your complaint (if appropriate), and talk to them about whether they wish to accept an informal resolution or whether they wish to use a formal process. (Both parties have to agree to an informal resolution)

C. If both parties do not agree to an informal resolution (or one is not appropriate) then your complaint will proceed to Step 3 E below.
D. Informal Resolution:

Refunds The only way of determining whether a refund is appropriate (whether in part or in full) is via a complainant’s exercising their consumer rights in court. The Society cannot, whether as part of an informal resolution process or in any other way, suggest or determine an appropriate level of refund.

E. Pre-panel Review: At this stage, in the absence of informal resolution, the Professional Conduct Manager will review the information they’ve received from you and the member to determine whether or not all, or part of the complaint can proceed to an Assessment Panel. They will now have both your complaint and the member’s response to take into consideration. The PCM will decide whether the evidence demonstrates that there may have been potential breaches of the Code of Ethics such that a Panel should consider the case.
The PCM may examine issues such as, but not limited to:
- Whether the complaint reflects an experience of counselling/psychotherapy which did not satisfy the client but was not ethically or professionally unsound, (for example, because the practitioner was not “the right fit” for the client or because there was a rupture in the therapeutic process which it would not be reasonable to expect the member to be able to resolve.
- Whether all or parts of the complaint are relevant matters for the Panel Whether all or parts of the complaint could clearly indicate a breach of the Code of Ethics if upheld
- Any other relevant issues which could affect the reliability or suitability of the case proceeding to an Assessment Panel.
- Whether there was a minor and technical breach of the Code best handled by a Letter of Advice rather than a Panel hearing.
In cases where the PCM decides that all or part of the complaint cannot proceed to a Panel, this decision will be automatically reviewed by a Panel Review Manager who is usually an experienced therapist who has not previously seen the case. The decision of the Panel Review Manager is final.
A Panel Review Manager decision is not needed for a Letter of Advice.

Letter of Advice
For minor potential breaches of the Code of Ethics, the PCM may write to the member advising them on how to improve their practice. If the member has already received a Letter of Advice about a similar issue then the PCM will refer the matter to an Assessment Panel.
If the member accepts the Letter of Advice, the letter will be kept on record for three years and can be taken into account if further similar complaints are submitted, and the case will be closed. If they choose not to accept the Letter of Advice then your case will be sent to an Assessment Panel.

Reviewing Step 3
No reviews are possible for Step 3. This is because any reviewable actions by the Professional Conduct Manager will have already triggered an internal review as part of the process.

What is the Assessment Panel?

The Society’s Assessment Panel usually consists of three people. They weren’t previously aware of your complaint, and who have no connection with you or the member. The Chair of the panel is normally a very experienced counsellor or psychotherapist, and there will usually be at least one ‘lay member’ of the panel – someone who isn’t a practising professional therapist and so who can bring a different perspective. It’s the role of the Panel to examine what both you and the member have said about the case, and to examine any evidence either of you has submitted. They can then make a decision about whether or not the member has breached our Code of Ethics, and if so, offer a solution. The Assessment Panel process allows us to address concerns and complaints as quickly as possible, minimising the impact on both complainant and member. The Panel assesses the evidence ‘on the balance of probabilities’ and makes a decision. Neither you nor the member attend an Assessment Panel hearing which are usually conducted online. Unlike a more formal Independent Complaints Panel hearing, there is no ‘cross examination’ of each others’ evidence or live hearing where either side could, for example, bring legal representation. In using an Assessment Panel system, the Society hopes to be able to bring many complaints to a successful conclusion more quickly, and so prevent prolonged stress for both parties. The way this works is as follows:

A. The Professional Conduct Manager may do a compliance check or audit of the member. A compliance check is where the member is asked to send in details of their supervision, insurance and CPD (Continuing Professional Development) to assure the Society that their practice is being undertaken in line with our Terms & Conditions. An audit is a more complex process where we may examine the member’s qualifications and experience in more detail, as a way of providing valuable insight to our Panel. There is a threshold test for whether or not the Professional Conduct Manager will audit the member. The test is whether or not an audit would assist a Panel in understanding any public assurance risk in the member’s practice, given the nature of your complaint. For example, if your complaint states that the member didn’t seem to understand your particular issues during therapy, an audit may help us decide whether the member was properly trained and supervised to deal with your particular concerns, or whether they should have referred you to another therapist. If the PCM does conduct an audit, this may delay the Assessment Panel process.

B. The Professional Conduct Manager will send your complaint and the member’s response to the Panel, together with any supporting evidence. The Panel will then consider both sides very carefully. You won’t see the member’s response to your complaint. This is because, if you wished to reply to that response, the member may wish to reply further and so the complaint could last an unreasonable amount of time with each party wanting to respond to the last thing which was written by the other side. (Should your complaint progress to a full formal hearing, both sides will have further opportunities to respond.)

C. The Panel may ask for further information or clarification, or may seek an expert opinion. After reading your case file, the Panel may decide to ask either you, the member, or both, for more information before they can reach a decision. In addition, they may delay proceedings while asking for an expert report – for example, on whether the member had the expertise to treat your condition.

D. The Panel will then make its decision, which can be one of the following outcomes:

i. Letter of Advice The Panel may decide that there were potential breaches of the Code of Ethics or concerns about a member’s practice, but these were of a minor nature and, as such, it would be appropriate to offer a Letter of Advice rather than sanctioning the member. In such circumstances, the member must accept the advice and that, if relevant, they breached the Code of Ethics. The Letter of Advice will not be published or shared but will remain on their file for up to two years.

ii. Complaint Upheld: Consensual Disposal The Assessment Panel often seeks to reach a decision by using something called Consensual Disposal. This is where a Panel finds that the member did breach our Code of Ethics, sets out what these breaches are, and applies sanctions. Sanctions are consequences for breaching our Code of Ethics and can range from removal or suspension from our register, to things like being instructed to do some retraining or undertake more supervision. The Panel asks the Member to admit that they breached the Code, and accept the sanctions offered. (A full explanation of sanctions can be found in our Indicative Sanctions Policy) The highest sanction an Assessment Panel can offer under Consensual Disposal is “Voluntary Removal.” This is where the Panel offers the member the chance to admit their breach of the Code of Ethics and be removed from membership of the Society. Voluntary Removal is reserved for the most serious breaches of the Code of Ethics. Consensual Disposal is not like a ‘plea bargain’ where, if you admit to something, you get a “lesser sentence.” The job of the Assessment Panel is to ask the question, “what would the outcome be if this went to a full ICP hearing and the ICP panel found the member had breached the Code of Ethics in this way?”. They then offer what they believe to be the same outcome, but without the necessity of a full formal process. The member may reject the Panel’s offer of Consensual Disposal, in which case your case will be referred to full Independent Complaints Panel (ICP) hearing. A Panel may uphold all, or only part, of your complaint in making an offer of Consensual Disposal.

iii. Complaint Not Upheld. The Assessment Panel may decide, having looked at both sides, that the complaint should be declined. This is because they believe that the member did not breach the Code of Ethics. They will give their reasons for this. A Panel may not uphold all, or just part, of your complaint.

iv. Membership Terms breached. The Panel may find that the member was not meeting the terms of membership (for example, not being adequately supervised) and may impose appropriate sanctions. This can happen whether or not all or part of your complaint is upheld.

v. Referral to a full Independent Complaints Panel Hearing. The Assessment Panel may decide that they cannot reach a firm decision over your case, or that your case for other reasons requires a full ICP hearing, at their sole discretion.

Reviewing Step 4 If the Assessment Panel writes a Letter of Advice or offer of Consensual Disposal which is accepted by the member; or finds that terms of membership have been breached; or refers the matter to a full Independent Complaints Panel hearing; there is no right to request a review of their decision which shall be final. If the Assessment Panel rejects your complaint entirely, you may request a review of this decision by a Case Review Manager, whose decision shall be final. If the Case Review Manager disagrees with the Assessment Panel decision, then a fresh Assessment Panel hearing will be convened to reassess your complaint. Its decision shall be final and not subject to further review. You must request a review within seven days of your receipt of notification of the Assessment Panel’s decision.

Concluding Step 4 In the absence of a review, Step 4 will conclude with either the complaints process ending, or referral to an Independent Complaints Panel. If a member, once offered Consensual Disposal, does not complete the agreed sanctions, and has not exercised their right of appeal, they will be removed from membership.

What is the ICP?
The Independent Complaints Panel exists to hear complaints via a fully formal process, in cases where informal resolution or consensual disposal have not been successful. The Panel consists of a ‘Lay Chair’ – i.e. someone who is not a counsellor or psychotherapist, but who usually has other expertise, for example, a legal background – and two other Panel members, usually experienced therapists. The Panel cannot have any previous connection with your case. The Panel will usually hold a live hearing in which the Society’s Professional Conduct Manager will present the case and in which you, the member, and any other appropriate parties will be asked to attend, give evidence, and be cross-examined. The hearing may be ‘in the room’ or via video link if an in the room hearing is not possible. If there is a good reason to do so, for example, repeated delays or parties saying they will not attend the hearing, the ICP may choose to hold a paper hearing instead of a live hearing. Your role in an ICP hearing is purely as a witness. The Society presents the case regarding the member’s conduct and you do not have to understand the procedure or the Code of Ethics, or try to “make your case.” The Society will handle this on your behalf. The ICP proceeds in the following way:

A. The Professional Conduct Manager will review and prepare the evidence. As part of this step, the member’s response to your complaint will be disclosed to you alongside any other evidence upon which they wish to rely. You may respond to the information that the member supplies and your response will be disclosed to them. The Professional Conduct Manager will then create a case file for the ICP. The Manager will apply some rules of evidence; for example, they may withhold evidence from the Panel which breaches third party confidentiality, or which is repetitive. This work will involve laying out which sections of the Code of Ethics may have been breached.

B. The Professional Conduct Manager will set a provisional hearing date by liaising with you, the member and the ICP. This hearing date may change – for example, if extra evidence is required or if someone falls ill.

C. The ICP reviews the case file. This is usually done initially by the ICP Chair, who will check everything before discussing the case with the wider panel. They may ask either you, the member, or both, for additional information, or ask either party to clarify anything you have submitted. The Chair will then inform the Professional Conduct Manager they are ready for the hearing.

D. The ICP holds its hearing. The Panel will not reach its decision on the day of your hearing, but will meet later in private.

E. . The ICP will make its decision, which can be one of the following outcomes:

i. Complaint Upheld. The Panel finds that the member has breached the Code of Ethics for either part of, or the whole of your complaint. If your complaint is upheld, the Panel will impose sanctions on the member which could range from removal from the register to ‘action points’ such as making different supervision arrangements. Where an Assessment Panel has previously made a ruling, the ICP may decide to uphold that decision, in which case the original offer of Consensual Disposal will become mandatory sanctions. (For a full explanation of sanctions, please refer to our Indicative Sanctions Policy.)

ii. Complaint Not Upheld. The Panel may not uphold all, or just part, of your complaint, in which case, no further action will be taken against the member in regard to aspects of your complaint which are not upheld.

iii. Membership Terms breached. The Panel may find that the member was not meeting the terms of membership (for example, not being adequately supervised) and may impose appropriate sanctions. This can happen whether or not all or part of your complaint is upheld.

Appealing Step 5: The Society has the right to appeal the ICP’s decision and will take your views into account when deciding whether to exercise its right to appeal. The Professional Conduct Manager will ask for your views as to the outcome of the hearing after it has taken place. You may be asked to put your views about the outcome in writing. The Society can appeal on the following grounds:

1. Sanctions Insufficient: The Society can appeal the sanctions that have been imposed to the member, if it feels they are inappropriate or insufficient. For example, the Panel may have imposed the member the opportunity to do some retraining as a sanction, but the Society believes that the member should be removed from the register, and has taken into account your views on the matter. The member may appeal sanctions which they believe to be too harsh or unwarranted.

2. Complaint Not Upheld: The Society can appeal any part of your complaint which the ICP didn’t uphold. For example, the Panel found that the member didn’t do anything wrong, but the Society disagrees. The member can also appeal the Panel’s decision on sanctions and on any parts of the complaint that were upheld.

3. Terms and Conditions of Membership: The Society can appeal the Panel’s decision where the Panel rules that Terms and Conditions of membership have not been breached, but the Society believes that they have. Your views will not be sought regarding an appeal on these grounds as the terms and conditions of membership are a technical matter.

If there is no appeal If neither side appeals, your case comes to a conclusion at Step 5. Any appeals are heard under Step 6. If a member does not complete sanctions imposed by the ICP, and has not exercised their right of appeal of said sanctions, they will be removed from membership.

If the Society or the member appeals the ICP’s decision, then your case will go to an Appeals Panel. The Society can only appeal an ICP decision where it believes it was too lenient, and the member can only appeal the decision where it believes it was too harsh. You will not normally be involved in this part of the process, unless the Appeals Panel feels that hearing from you further is important.

What is the Appeals Panel? The Panel will consist of a Lay Chair and two experienced practitioners who have not previously seen your case. They will provide a paper ruling and there will be no further hearings.

If the Society or member wishes to appeal the ICP decision, then the following steps are taken:

A. An Intention to Appeal notice must be lodged within 7 days of receiving the Panel’s decision by either, or both, sides.

B. The Appeal should be received by the Appeals Panel within 21 days of the ICP’s decision. The Society will set out why it believes the sanctions imposed by the ICP were too lenient, or it believes your complaint should have been upheld if it wasn’t. The member will set out why they believe the sanctions were too harsh, or why it believes your complaint should not have been upheld. The Society or member can include further evidence if relevant, but if this should have been submitted earlier, it may not be taken into account by the Appeals Panel.

C. The Society’s appeals submission will be shared with the member and they may respond, and/or the member’s submission may be shared with the Society which may respond. Each side will normally be given 14 days to do this.

D. An Appeals Panel will examine the Appeal. The Society will appoint an independent Appeals Panel who have not seen your case before and is independent of all parties. They will carefully consider the decision of the ICP, and try to reach a decision within 28 days. They may ask either party or the for additional information if required, and may also commission an independent expert report if necessary. The Panel will reach a paper decision and there is no need for a further hearing.

E. The Appeals Panel will make a decision. The following outcomes are possible:

i. Appeal Upheld – Amended Outcome and/or amended Sanctions The Appeals Panel may uphold all or part of the appeal. For example, they may decide that the sanctions imposed by the ICP were too lenient or too harsh; or that the ICP did not make a correct decision when upholding (or declining) the complaint. It will then make a new, final ruling with a new outcome and new sanctions, if appropriate.

ii. Appeal not upheld- The Appeals Panel may decide to not uphold all or part of an appeal. For example, they may decide that the ICP imposed the correct sanctions, or that that the ICP was correct when they did not find there was a breach of the Code of Ethics.

What happens after an Appeals Panel Decision? The decision of the Appeals Panel is final and binding on both the Society and the member, and this concludes the complaints process for all parties. You will be informed of the Appeal Panel’s decision. In cases where the member does not complete sanctions required by the Appeals Panel, they will be removed from membership.

As an Accredited Register holder, the Society is bound by the standards of accreditation as determined by the Professional Standards Authority.

If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of our complaints process, you can take this up with the Authority. The Authority can look at what the Society is doing to determine whether or not we are following our procedures correctly. However, the Authority cannot overturn a complaints decision and is not a further step of appeal.

What happens if the member resigns from the Society or refuses to cooperate or attend hearings?

If the member resigns or refuses to cooperate, the complaints process will continue if it is in the public interest to do so. By resigning or refusing to cooperate, the member will have breached their terms of membership and the Society’s public register will reflect this.

What happens if I want to withdraw my complaint, or no longer want to participate or am unavailable?

If you wish to withdraw your complaint once made, or no longer wish to participate in the process or can’t be reached, then it is likely your complaint file will be closed. However, the Professional Conduct Officer may decide to proceed under our Acting on Evidence protocol if it is in the interest of public protection to do so.

How long will all this take?

Complaints vary enormously in terms of length and complexity, and often either party requests more time, for example, to gather more evidence or to take legal advice. Our process is designed to be as quick as possible within the boundaries of reaching fair, ethical decisions. At each step of the process, the Professional Conduct Officer will give you an indication of how long your particular case will take, and also let you know about any deadlines you need to meet.

As a normal practice, the Society lists Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) which give an indication as to how long we would reasonably expect processes to take.

Is your process reviewed?

The Society has all cases reviewed annually by an Independent Assessor, who may at their discretion interview our Professional Conduct Officers or Panel Members. They will highlight areas for improvement in our processes. Their report is disclosed to the Professional Standards Authority.

The Authority may also review our processes to ensure that we are conforming to the conditions of registration for an Accredited Register.

What’s the difference between a ‘registrant’ and a member, and how does this affect this process?

Registrants have been assessed by the Society via a formal process to confirm that their qualifications and practice meet our conditions of registration. They are the only Society members who we state are approved by us to practice as counsellors or psychotherapists.

Alongside registrants we have other categories of membership such as student members or associate members.

If a non registrant member has been seeing clients and representing themselves as suitable for practice, they may be in violation of our terms of membership, especially if they advertise their membership to their clients without having first gained registration. (There are exceptions to this – for example, an experienced counsellor who is applying for registration is perfectly entitled to see clients – just not to advertise their membership until registered.)

Depending on the circumstances, we may or may not use this process. For example, a student member seeing private clients would likely have their case heard under this process. A student member on a placement as part of their training course would likely see their case referred back to their placement provider and/or training provider.

Our policy is to try and handle all complaints in a reasonable time frame where possible. Below are the maximum time frames you should expect from our process, but bear in mind that complaints processes can often take longer than expected, for example, if somebody wishes to take legal advice, or if we have to gather evidence.
Often complaint times are much shorter than the time frames listed below.
Step 1: Getting basic information from the complainant and checking we can go further with the complaint: 3 weeks.

Step 2: Screening the complaint in detail and deciding next steps: 6 weeks.

Step 3: Contacting the member, getting their response, and screening it: 6 weeks.

Step 3E: Reviewing the complaint and deciding whether it will go to Panel: 3 weeks.

Step 4: Assessment Panel File Preparation: 4 weeks.

Step 4: Assessment Panel Hearing: 6 weeks

Step 5: Independent Complaints Panel hearing: up to 6 months.

Step 6: Appeal from ICP: up to 3 months.

From the above, the maximum time in which the vast majority of complaints are finished (which are heard and resolved by an Assessment Panel) is 28 weeks. Where things progress to an ICP hearing with a further appeal, this can take substantially longer.