Handling Unreasonable Contact Policy

Radcliffe First (Admin. Group and Committee Members) has an important role providing information, advice and support to residents, business owners and of course our local councillors. Wherever possible we will assist residents with any requests, concerns or complaints. Radcliffe First is committed to openness and transparency in all its interactions with the public, and we aim to provide timely, accurate and informative responses and to ensure our communication is clear.

While the vast majority of the general public pursue their enquiries, requests or complaints in a reasonable manner, a minority do not. In some instances, this can have a negative impact on the handling of their enquiry. It can also have a significant impact on our resources. This policy sets out how Radcliffe First deals with  unreasonable behaviour or needlessly repetitive contact.

Radcliffe First, Admin and Committee Members have the right to be treated with courtesy and respect and should not be exposed or subjected to abusive behaviour in any form. This policy seeks to define unreasonable behaviour and outline the steps members can take when they encounter it.

We define unreasonable behaviour as:

• Behaviour which prevents us from dealing effectively with individuals, either as a result of its nature or frequency, and which may cause distress to team members.

Examples of unreasonable behaviour

• Rude, inflammatory or derogatory language
• Offensive, racist, sexist or discriminatory language 
• Verbal abuse, aggressive, threatening or violent language or behaviour.
• Changing the basis of the enquiry, request or complaint as the matter proceeds
• Recording meetings and conversations inappropriately, covertly or without permission 
• Making excessive demands on members time, due to lengthy or repetitious contact or by duplicating similar requests to different members 
• Persistently approaching RF through different routes about the same issue
• Making unjustified complaints about Members either to RF or other external bodies
• Sharing the names or contact details of individual members externally, such as via social media.

An isolated incident of unreasonable behaviour may not necessarily require further action, it is for team members to determine if the behaviour prevents us from dealing effectively with the enquiry, or if it causes distress

We differentiate between ‘persistent’ enquirers and ‘unreasonably persistent’ enquirers. People making a complaint can be persistent where they feel that we have not dealt with their complaint properly or followed our published guidelines. It is only once this persistence begins to prevent us from dealing effectively with other enquiries, or causes distress that it would be considered unreasonable.

Handling unreasonable contact

Radcliffe First does not tolerate abusive, offensive, violent or threatening behaviour against its team members. Colleagues are advised to quickly terminate any contact that is abusive, violent or threatening and report the matter to the Party Leader who will decide on the next steps.

Terminating contact

If it has been necessary to terminate a call, meeting or correspondence due to the behaviour of the individual the Party Leader will decide if any further action needed. 

Restricting future contact

Before deciding to apply any restrictions, the Party Leader will ensure that:

• the enquiry, request or complaint has been dealt with properly and in line with the relevant procedures and guidelines;  and 
• Generally, we have made every reasonable effort to satisfy the request or resolve the enquiry, request or complaint.

If we believe that the individual has acted unreasonably, restrictions will be tailored to deal with the individual circumstances and may include one or more of the following (the list is not exhaustive): 

• Refusing to register and process further enquiries, requests or complaints about the same or similar matters.
• Terminating contact altogether if they are abusive, offensive, violent or threatening. The Party Leader will consider whether any behaviour that may constitute a criminal offence has occurred and whether they wish to report the incidence to the police. 
• Terminating contact altogether if they persistently raise issues which have been responded to in full.
• Refusing any further meetings with the individual for a fixed period.

New enquiries, requests or complaints

We will not ignore new enquiries, requests or complaints from people who have previously behaved unreasonably or requests for information which have previously been unreasonable.  New enquiries relating to a different topic, requests or complaints from people who have been classified as unreasonable under this policy will be treated on their merits.  The Party Leader  will decide whether any restrictions which have been applied before are still appropriate and necessary in relation to the new complaint or request.

Review

The status of a complainant judged to be unreasonably persistent will be reviewed by the Party Leader before the end of the period of restriction.

Record keeping

Records of restriction decisions will be retained by Radcliffe First showing the following:  

• The name and contact details of anyone who is classified as unreasonable. 
• Whether they contacted us by phone, email or in person. 
• Details of each information request classified as unreasonable, including the name and contact details of the requester.
• The restrictions which have been put in place.
• When any restrictions were put in place, and the end date of restrictions.

Radcliffe First will be guided by the provisions of the Data Protection Act (DPA) and the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and will ensure that the complainant’s rights to have their information processed in accordance with the statutory requirements is protected and adhered to.

The Party Leader will review the unreasonable requests/requestors annually. If there has been no follow up in the last 12 months the record will be either anonymised and no personal data is retained, or the record is deleted. If the person/request is considered to be still unreasonable by the Party Leader this can be retained for another year after documenting their decision.

Equality considerations

Before we identify someone as engaging in unreasonable contact with Radcliffe First, we will first consider whether they may have additional support needs which affects their communication with us. 

If we believe a complainant faces additional challenges when communicating with us, as a result of a disability or support need, we will establish as quickly as possible their communication preferences / needs and seek to accommodate these wherever possible.

Disabilities are not always immediately apparent, so where appropriate we will take the time to understand how we can best communicate. It is possible that some individuals may face additional challenges  which may lead to frustration. We will keep this in mind and respond with sensitivity.

Judi Sheppard

Party leader

Radcliffe First

Updated: 5th August 2024