扒哥吃瓜

An improvement need is a formal requirement for you to take corrective and preventive action because you do not meet part of the ACS standard.聽

Your assessor may raise an improvement need during or after your assessment. We may raise an improvement need at any time.聽

What to do if you receive an improvement need聽

If you receive an improvement need, you must show how you will fix the issue and prevent it from happening again.听听

To do this, you must make an聽action plan. You must send your action plan to us and your assessing body within 5 working days of receiving the improvement need.聽

You might take:聽

• immediate actions, such as issuing alerts or notices聽
• longer-term actions, such as updating procedures,聽training聽or specifications聽

Try to avoid quick fixes. They often do not last and can reduce trust in your systems. Try to learn from the improvement need and use your action plan to strengthen your business.

If the improvement need is closed during your assessment, you do not need to send us an action plan.

What to include in your action plan聽

Your action plan should:聽

• explain the issue, what caused it, and why it happened聽
• review wider risks, checking for similar issues elsewhere and addressing any broader weaknesses聽
• describe what聽you鈥檒l聽do to fix the issue and reduce the risk of it happening again聽
• set clear deadlines for each action聽
• name the person responsible for each action聽
• explain how聽you鈥檒l聽share the plan with your team聽
• explain how聽you鈥檒l聽check that the issue is resolved and the risk of it happening again is reduced聽

Simple issues聽

Some improvement needs relate to聽very simple聽issues. In these cases, your assessor聽might聽be able to close the improvement need during the assessment.聽

For example, your assessor聽might聽notice a broken link on your website聽and聽raise an improvement need.聽You聽might聽be able to fix the broken link straight away聽and your assessor would聽easily聽be able to check聽this.聽Your assessor聽could then close the improvement need.

Improvement needs that relate to breaches of the cannot be closed during the same assessment.

Minor issues聽

You might receive an improvement need about an issue which is not simple聽enough to address during the assessment but is still minor.聽In these cases, your assessor might close the improvement need following a desktop assessment.听听

For example, your assessor might raise an improvement need because one of your directors is unlicensed. You would address this by making sure the director gets licensed.聽It would be easy for the assessor to check that the director had been licensed by looking at the .听听

For an improvement need to be closed following a desktop assessment, the issue must:聽

• be easy to fix聽
• have a clear cause聽
• not raise any data-protection concerns聽聽

You must聽send an action plan to us and your assessing body within 5 working days of receiving the improvement need.

Complex issues

If your assessor raises an improvement need about a complex issue, they will need to come back to your site in-person to check that you have addressed聽it.听听

You must first聽send an action plan to us and your assessing body within 5 working days of receiving the improvement need.

What your assessor will do聽

Your assessor will:聽

• review your action plan to check it is realistic and achievable聽
• agree a date for the re-visit with you聽

If you are applying for ACS approval for the first time, your re-visit will take place within 6 months of when we confirmed you were eligible for approval.聽

If you are already approved, the re-visit will take place within 6 weeks of the last day of your annual assessment. This聽timeframe聽may be shorter聽if we have applied sanctions.

What we will do聽

We will close the improvement need if:聽

• you聽submit聽an action plan that addresses both the issue and its cause聽
• you fully implement the plan聽
• the assessor confirms that the actions taken are effective聽

If you cannot address the improvement need in time, we may聽do one of the following:聽

• apply sanctions to your approval聽
• withdraw your approval