Complaints procedure | radcliffefirst.co.uk

Complaints Against a Member of Radcliffe First

1. Introduction

1.1 This procedure applies when a complaint is received against a Member of Radcliffe First.

1.2 Any complaint against a Radcliffe First Councillor will be subject to a separate Code of Conduct and Complaints Procedure. Please see the information provided by Bury Council.

2. Making a Complaint

2.1 A complaint must be made in writing either by post or e-mail to The Secretary, Radcliffe First, c/o 5 Bridgemere Close, Radcliffe M26 4FS or secretary@radcliffefirst.co.uk

2.2 The Party Secretary will acknowledge receipt of the complaint within ten working days and write to the Member with details of the allegations, whilst also notifying the Party Leader or Deputy Leader of the complaint. The Member may, within five working days of receipt, make written representations to the Party Leader / Deputy Leader which must be taken into account when deciding how the complaint should be dealt with. These representations should be sent to the Secretary as above.

3. Initial Assessment of Complaint

3.1 The Party Leader / Deputy Leader will review the complaint (initial assessment) and decide as to whether it merits investigation, or another course of action. This decision will normally be taken within 20 working days of receipt of a complaint.

The complaint will be rejected if:

The complaint, if proven, would not be a breach of the Code of Conduct under which the Member was operating at the time of the alleged misconduct.
The complaint relates to a matter which took place more than six months ago, except in exceptional circumstances.

3.2 The Party Leader / Deputy Leader will then apply the following criteria in deciding whether a complaint should be accepted for investigation, dealt with informally, or rejected:

Whether the complaint is about something that happened so long ago, the lapse of time means there would be little benefit or point in taking action now;
Whether the allegation is anonymous;
Whether the complaint appears to be malicious, vexatious, or tit for tat (see para 8.3)
Whether it is apparent that the Member is relatively inexperienced or has admitted making an error and the matter would not warrant a more serious sanction;
Whether training would be the appropriate response if the member is part of the committee.

What happens to your complaint?

We will assess your complaint in more detail to see if it is something that we can, or should, be investigating. Occasionally we will decide not to investigate the complaint you have raised. This might be because there is insufficient evidence of the behaviour complained about, that no rules would have been breached by the behaviour complained about, or that there are no membership sanctions that would be appropriate even if we did investigate. Sometimes, if for example, a police investigation or a legal case is ongoing, we will also suspend any potential Party investigation into a complaint until the outcome of the relevant external process has been concluded.

4. Additional Information

The general route that a complaint investigation follows is, after it is assessed and accepted for investigation it will be allocated to an Investigating Officer who will ensure they understand your complaint fully and will approach both you and the Radcliffe First member complained about (where appropriate) to ask for any further information they may need.

4.1 The Party Leader / Deputy Leader may request additional information and may seek to resolve the complaint informally, without the need for an investigation.

4.2 Such informal resolution may involve the Member accepting that his/her conduct was unacceptable and offering an apology or taking other steps.

4.3 If the complaint identifies criminal conduct or breach of other regulations by any person, the Party Secretary is authorised to report this to the Police or other prosecuting or regulatory authority.

4A. Evidence, the burden of proof and the standard of proof

Radcliffe First adopts an “evidence-based approach” when deciding a complaint which means that the decision as to whether a complaint is upheld or not will require evidence that proves what is being alleged.

A person who makes a complaint must prove it.

The complainant is responsible for producing the evidence to support their complaint. We do not collect evidence on behalf of the complainant.

Complaints must be proved on the “balance of probabilities”, which means ‘what is more likely than not to have occurred’.

The respondent does not have to prove their innocence, but they do have to prove anything they allege in response to the complaint to the same standard as the complainant.

5. Confidentiality

5.1 If a Complainant has asked for their identity to be withheld, this request will be considered at the initial assessment stage.

5.2 As a matter of fairness, a Member will usually be told who has complained about them and receive details of the complaint. However, in exceptional circumstances, the Party Leader / Deputy Leader may withhold the Complainant's identity if requested.

6. Investigation

6.1 The Party Leader / Deputy Leader may appoint an Investigating Officer where a complaint merits formal investigation. The Investigating Officer may be a Committee member of Radcliffe First or a Nominated Representative / Panel (being members of Radcliffe First)

6.2 The Investigating Officer will follow guidance issued by the Party Leader / Deputy Leader on the investigation of complaints and they will produce a written report. The Investigating Officer may send copies of the ‘draft’ report to the Complainant and the Member asking for comments on matters of fact, which will be taken into account before issuing their final report for the attention of the Party Leader / Deputy Leader.

They may need to talk to several people and will undertake a desk-based investigation in order to get sufficient detail before they are able to come to a conclusion. Once an investigation is completed, a recommendation for the outcome is passed to the Party Leader / Deputy Leader and a decision will be made based on all the evidence and whether they agree with the recommendation.

If the complaint involves witnesses and cannot be determined on a written report and accompanying evidence alone, it is likely to be referred to a panel for determination

Conclusions are reached by weighing up all the evidence available.

In order to get to this point, the investigating officer will:

Confirm their understanding of the complaint(s) raised
Examine the evidence supplied at the outset
Determine what further evidence/information they will need
Approach the person raising the complaint, the respondent (the member being complained about) and any other third parties who may be able to provide the further information required and request it
Consider the evidence and information against the complaints raised
Consider how serious any rule breach has been, what the effect has been and what the recommended sanction should accordingly be

Rule breaches can be moderate, significant or serious. This, alongside the effect that the rule breach or conduct has had, will also be taken into account when deciding what the outcome or sanction on the member should be.

What are the possible outcomes?

Occasionally a member will resign their membership during our investigation. If that happens then we won’t be able to continue our investigation as the person complained about will no longer be a member of Radcliffe First and there will be no sanction we can impose. This can also happen if we discover that their membership has lapsed.

We may decide that – considering all the circumstances and available evidence - we will take no further action. This might be where the complaint is unfounded.

Other outcomes of a complaint investigation might be where we issue the member with a ‘Reminder of Values’ or a ‘Reminder of Conduct’. This is akin to an informal warning.

Other outcomes are known as sanctions. We can issue a Formal Warning to the member based on the behaviour or conduct we have seen. This will stay on their membership record for a period of at least 12 months and can inform outcomes of any further upheld complaints. Other potential outcomes of a complaint investigation are: suspension for a defined period of time (which may include specific restrictions on membership such as preventing someone from holding office or representing the Party); and expulsion from Party membership.

7. Investigating Officer finding of no failure to comply with the Code of Conduct

7.1 Where the Investigating Officer's report finds that the Member has not failed to comply with the Code of Conduct, the Party Leader / Deputy Leader will review the Investigating Officer's report and if satisfied, will confirm the finding of no failure to comply with the Code of Conduct.

7.2 The Party Leader / Deputy Leader will write to the Complainant and the Member with a copy of the decision and the Investigating Officer's report.

8 Investigating Officer finding of sufficient evidence of failure to comply with the Code of Conduct

Where the Investigating Officer's report finds that the Member has failed to comply with the Code of Conduct, the Party Leader / Deputy Leader will review the Investigating Officer's report and either refer the matter to a panel or seek local resolution.

8.1 Local Resolution

The Party Leader / Deputy Leader may suggest resolving the complaint by way of the ‘local resolution’. This is an informal process which cannot result in a finding of misconduct and should only be used for low level matters. The decision to use the local resolution can be used without the complainant’s consent.

Local Resolution means solving, clearing up or settling the complaint between the parties involved and the matter will be closed after the process is completed. Resolving a complaint locally can help improve the service to the public.

If the Party Leader / Deputy Leader considers that the matter can reasonably be resolved without the need for a panel hearing, they will consult with the Complainant and seek to agree a fair resolution. Such resolution may include the Member accepting that their conduct was unacceptable and offering an apology, and/or other remedial action.

8.2 Local Hearing

Where a local resolution is not appropriate or the Complainant and/or Subject Member refuses to accept local resolution, then the matter can be referred to a panel before deciding whether the Member has failed to comply with a Code of Conduct and, if so, what action (if any) to take in respect of the Member.

The Panel is a sub-committee of Radcliffe First members and will comprise of the Party Leader or Deputy Leader, the Party Secretary and at least three other members (panel of five)

8.3 Vexatious complaints and unreasonable behaviour

A complaint is defined as vexatious where it:

Is obsessive, persistent, harassing, prolific, repetitious
Insists upon pursuing unmeritorious complaints and / or becomes unrealistic beyond all reason
Insists upon pursuing complaints in an unreasonable manner
Is designed to cause disruption or annoyance
Demands redress that lacks any serious purpose or value

A complaint could be considered to be pursued unreasonably or to be persistent where the person demonstrates (without limitation) any of the following behaviours:

Persists in pursuing a complaint where the Complaints Policy has been fully and properly implemented and exhausted
Raises an unacceptable number of complaints that are considered to be unjustified, trivial and/or malicious
Refuses to accept a decision made on a complaint, repeatedly arguing points with no new evidence or insufficient evidence
Introduces trivial or irrelevant information which they expect to be considered and commented on
Sends repeated, persistent and/or abusive communications in connection with the same complaint (or with minor additions or variations) or makes / publishes derogatory statements about RF members
Repeatedly makes the same complaint
Makes, or has made, excessive demands on the time and resources
Has harassed, used threats to intimidate, or been personally abusive, offensive or aggressive on repeated occasions, despite being informed that this is unacceptable
Knowingly provides falsified information
Publishes unacceptable, derogatory information or statements about Radcliffe First and/or its members

J Sheppard

Party Leader

Radcliffe First

Updated August 2024