Policies, procedures and privacy statements

Complaints, compliments and comments

The complaints and information governance team handles all compliments, comments and complaints about our service.

Find out more on the complaints, compliments and comments pages of our website.

Privacy statement

We keep information about everyone who enrols on a Darlington Borough Council Learning & Skills programme. Details on how we manage this information is available in the Learning & Skills privacy statement.

If you are studying a course that is funded by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), an executive agency of the Department for Education (DfE), their privacy notice [external link] explains how they use your personal information.

Provider access policy

We are committed to making sure all learners are aware of different routes to achieving their learning and career goals.

Our provider access policy [word document] sets out how we do this.

Safeguarding policy

We have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of the people accessing our service.

Information on how we do this is available in our safeguarding policy [word document].

SEND policy

Learning & Skills is an inclusive service. We welcome all learners, including those with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND); offering targeted and specialist support where needed to ensure learners reach their full potential.

Find out more about how we do this in our SEND policy [word document].

Supply chain fees and charges policy (Sub-Contracting)

We deliver a wide range of learning opportunities and courses which are largely delivered in house. We are committed to increasing the variety of learning available and sometimes we use external services to deliver these.

Our policy on sub-contracting services [pdf document] explores this in more detail.

Whistleblowing policy

Whistleblowing is when an employee reports wrongdoing at work that affects others.  Employees are often the first to realise when there are things wrong with the way we conduct our service.

Our whistleblowing policy [pdf document] supports the people who work for us (the council) to raise these concerns without fear of discrimination, victimisation or disadvantage.