Making a Complaint: Our Disciplinary Process

The Disciplinary Process is used to investigate any report suggesting a member may have acted in contravention of the Code of Professional Conduct.

To discuss our complaints process or our Codes of Conduct please contact Professional Standards either by email standards@step.org or by telephone 0203 7523 762.

Making a Complaint

STEP prides itself on the high standards and competence of its members. If you feel that the service offered by a STEP member has fallen below the professional standards outlined in one of our Codes of Professional Conduct you can make a complaint to STEP’s Professional Standards team using the form below.

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Complaints Process

We have produced two leaflets to explain what happens when you make a complaint about a STEP member or a complaint is made about you and what you can expect from STEP.

Disciplinary Rules

The STEP disciplinary process is outlined in the Disciplinary Rules below.

Disciplinary Decisions

Decisions reached by STEP’s Disciplinary Panel can be found here

Publications Policy

The Publications Policy for the Disciplinary Panel establishes the information to be made publicly available following a sanction imposed by the Investigation Sub Committee.

Public sanctions from STEP's Disciplinary Panel appear alongside a member’s entry on our online directory. Decisions currently remain on the website for a period of six years.

How STEP processes your personal data when you make a complaint under our Disciplinary Process?

We process your personal data in line with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation.

Each complaint will have its own complaint file. The file contains information on all persons involved with your complaint.

In order to process your complaint about a member effectively, we will usually be required to share with them all the information which you provide us, including your identity. This is why we ask for your written consent when you complete our complaints form. On occasions we may need to disclose complaint information to third parties to establish facts or because of an overriding public duty. In such cases, you will be informed.

Any information you provide is only accessed by authorised staff and members of the disciplinary panel, (including the Investigation Panel, Disciplinary Hearing Panel and Appeals Panel), in order to enable them to perform their role. All members of the Disciplinary Panel are required to sign a confidentiality agreement. Members of the Disciplinary Panel may be located outside the EU.

All information submitted as part of your complaint is stored securely in whatever format it is supplied. Any original materials will be returned to you after the investigation has been concluded.

Information on complaints is retained for the life of a member.

We may also prepare and publish or share statistics and research reports obtained from information we collect such as the number and types of complaints we receive but we will not identify anyone. The information may also be used to monitor and improve our level of customer service. On a quarterly basis, reports are made to the Professional Standards Committee who have oversight of the work of the Disciplinary Panel. Complainants are not named in these reports.

As a complainant, you will not receive marketing communications from STEP or third party organisations.

STEP’s privacy notice can be read here and should you require a copy of our privacy policy, please email data.protection@step.org