Bullying Policies and Standards involving the Public

The request was partially successful.

Dear Rhondda Cynon Taff Council,

Please could you provide me with details of the Councils policy with regard to Bullying /misconduct and also Standards in relation to allegations made by a member of the public.

Please could you provide details of how many allegations have been made by a member of the public regarding the above for the past 10 years or so and also the number of complaints upheld.

Please could you confirm when Anti Bullying Policies regarding Staff and elected Members towards the Public first came into force.

Who is the individual / elected Member/ Officer responsible for implementing the policies and dealing with any complaints.

What is the usual procedure when dealing with such allegations ?

Yours faithfully,

Angela Richards

Freedomofinformation, Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council

Dear Ms Richards,

Thank you for your request for information.

Your request will be processed in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (or Environmental Information Regulations 2004, if it
relates to environmental information).

You should ordinarily expect to receive a response to your request no
later than 20 working days following the date of submission to the
Council. We will contact you should this not be the case.

Yours sincerely

Carfan Llywodraethu Corfforaethol / Corporate Governance Team
ar ran Cyfarwyddwr Gwasanaethau Cyfreithiol a Llywodraethol / for Director
of Legal & Democratic Services

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Dear Freedomofinformation,

Thank you for your prompt response and I look forward to hearing from you within the time limit.

Yours sincerely,

Angela Richards

Freedomofinformation, Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council

Dear Ms Richards,

We refer to your Freedom of Information Request in respect of the
questions below regarding Bullying Policies and Standards involving the
Public.

The Authority’s response is as follows:

• Please could you provide me with details of the Councils policy with
regard to Bullying /misconduct and also Standards in relation to
allegations made by a member of the public.

ANSWER: The policy relevant to deal with an allegation of employee
misconduct that has been raised by a member of the public, is the
Council's agreed Disciplinary Policy. In addition, should the individual
wish to remain anonymous, the Council also has in place a Whistleblowing
Policy to follow.

• Please could you provide details of how many allegations have been made
by a member of the public regarding the above for the past 10 years or so
and also the number of
complaints upheld.

Unfortunately, we are unable to supply the information for this part of
the request. This is because the information is not recorded in a way that
allows an electronic extraction and would require each and every case to
be reviewed manually to identify how many allegations have been made by a
member of the public and the number of complaints upheld. Therefore, the
total costs of providing the information to this part of your request will
exceed the “appropriate limit” as stated in the Freedom of Information and
Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.

Even if the time period stated within your request were to be reduced, the
request would still exceed the “appropriate limit”.

In accordance with Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 ("the
Act") this e-mail acts as a Refusal Notice to this part of your request.

• Please could you confirm when Anti Bullying Policies regarding Staff and
elected Members towards the Public first came into force.

ANSWER: The Council has had in place the Disciplinary Policy since its
inception in 1996.

• Who is the individual / elected Member/ Officer responsible for
implementing the policies and dealing with any complaints.

ANSWER: The officer responsible is Mr R Evans, Director of Human
Resources.

• What is the usual procedure when dealing with such allegations?

ANSWER: The process is clarified in the agreed discipline procedure, which
is in line with ACAS guidelines.

If you are unhappy with the way your request for information has been
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appeal to Mrs Julie Llewellyn. She may be reached at
[1][email address] or at RCT CBC, Pavilions, Clydach Vale,
Tonypandy, CF40 2XX.

Additionally you may, if you wish, find out more about the Freedom of
Information Act & Environmental Information Regulations from the
Information Commissioner at [2]http://www.ico.org.uk/

We trust this answers your queries.

Yours Sincerely

Carfan Llywodraethu Corfforaethol / Corporate Governance Team ar ran
Cyfarwyddwr Gwasanaethau Cyfreithiol a Llywodraethol / for Director of
Legal & Democratic Services

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Dear Freedomofinformation,

Thank you for completing the Request.

Yours sincerely,

Angela Richards