Help centre / Registers & safeguarding / Handle complaints and whistleblowing safely
Handle complaints and whistleblowing safely
Open Governance, then Complaints & whistleblowing. Each case is visible only to its named handlers and admins. A case about you is never shown to you, whatever your role. Trustees keep oversight through an anonymised view of counts and themes.
Who can see a case
Complaints and whistleblowing need stronger privacy than other registers, so access works case by case:
- Only the case's named handlers and admins can open it.
- A case about you is never shown to you. This holds whatever your role, even if you're an admin.
- Trustees see an anonymised board view: how many cases are open, and their themes and statuses. No names and no details.
This means someone can raise a concern about anyone, including a trustee, and the register keeps it confidential.
Open a case
- Go to Governance, then Complaints & whistleblowing.
- Select New case.
- Choose the Kind (complaint or whistleblowing) and a Theme if one fits.
- Give it a short, factual Title and describe What was raised.
- Say who it's about: pick them from the register, or describe them, for example "a contractor".
- Add the reporter's name and contact if you know them. Leave these blank for an anonymous report.
- Select Open case.
The case gets a short reference, like CMP-4A9F2B, which you can share with the person who raised it.
Choose who handles it
On the case page, select Add handler and pick the people who will look into it. Only these named handlers and admins can open the case. If the case touches someone senior, keep the handler list small.
Decide whether it's a serious incident
If the case could meet the Charity Commission's serious-incident threshold, select Record decision. Record a clear yes or no with your reasons. A "report" decision needs a deadline, and a report left unfiled past that deadline is flagged for immediate attention. CharityControl records your decision and the date. It doesn't file the report; you submit that to the Commission yourself.
Let people raise concerns from your website
Select Public complaints intake to turn on a public form. You can embed it on your website, so members and the public have a confidential way to raise something without needing an account.
Close a case
Edit the case, record the Outcome / findings, and set the status to closed. Every change to a case is kept in its history.
The governance behind this: our free guide on charitycontrol.org explains the why in plain English.