Bullying in Rhondda Cynon Taff Council

The request was successful.

Dear Rhondda Cynon Taff Council,

This request is being made to make the public at large and people in each authority aware of which councils are the worst offenders or the better examples when it comes to bullying in the workplace. All councils have very similar anti-bullying / dignity at work policies, but there seems to be a difference in the level of bullying. This is intended to statistically show those differences.

Please reply to the first two questions first as they are the most important:

a) Please inform me of the cost of dealing with this request.

1) How many official complaints of harassment and bullying at work did you receive between the 1st April 2009 and the 31st December 2015?

2) How many of these complaints were upheld in favour of the
complainant?

Please reply to these questions if the £450 limit is not exceeded or in order of the questions up to the limit should the limit be surpassed somewhere within these questions:

3) How many of those which were not upheld in favour of the
complainant went on to Appeal?

4) How many of those that went to Appeal were found to favour the
complainant?

5) How many complaints went on to an Employment Tribunal?

6) How many of these were found to uphold the complaint?

7) Out of how many of those allegations (the number given to question 1) did the complainant of
bullying claim that the bullies were telling lies?

8) How many staff does your authority have and what is the current population within your authority's area?

Yours faithfully

Mr Lewis

yabootoyou

Gummer, Claire,

Dear Mr Lewis

Thank you for your request for information which is receiving attention.

We are looking into this matter and shall contact you again in due course.

Yours sincerely

Claire

Claire Gummer
Corporate Governance Team
Legal & Democratic Services
Rhondda Cynon Taff C.B.C.
The Pavilions
Cambrian Park
Clydach Vale
Tonypandy
CF40 2XX

Tel: (01443) 424111
Fax: (01443) 424114
Email: [1][email address]

-----Original Message-----
From: Yabootoyou [mailto:[FOI #345149 email]]
Sent: 11 July 2016 13:23
To: Freedomofinformation
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Bullying in Rhondda Cynon Taff
Council

Dear Rhondda Cynon Taff Council,

This request is being made to make the public at large and people in each
authority aware of which councils are the worst offenders or the better
examples when it comes to bullying in the workplace. All councils have
very similar anti-bullying / dignity at work policies, but there seems to
be a difference in the level of bullying. This is intended to
statistically show those differences.

Please reply to the first two questions first as they are the most
important:

a) Please inform me of the cost of dealing with this request.

1) How many official complaints of harassment and bullying at work did you
receive between the 1st April 2009 and the 31st December 2015?

2) How many of these complaints were upheld in favour of the complainant?

Please reply to these questions if the £450 limit is not exceeded or in
order of the questions up to the limit should the limit be surpassed
somewhere within these questions:

3) How many of those which were not upheld in favour of the complainant
went on to Appeal?

4) How many of those that went to Appeal were found to favour the
complainant?

5) How many complaints went on to an Employment Tribunal?

6) How many of these were found to uphold the complaint?

7) Out of how many of those allegations (the number given to question 1)
did the complainant of bullying claim that the bullies were telling lies?

8) How many staff does your authority have and what is the current
population within your authority's area?

Yours faithfully

Mr Lewis

yabootoyou

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[2][FOI #345149 email]

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Freedom of Information requests to Rhondda Cynon Taff Council? If so,
please contact us using this form:
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-------------------------------------------------------------------

Mae'r neges ar gyfer y person(au) a enwyd yn unig a gall gynnwys deunydd
sensitif neu ddeunydd sy wedi'i farcio hyd at 'CYFYNGEDIG' a dylid ei
thrin yn unol a hynny. Os nad chi yw'r person a enwyd (neu os nad oes gyda
chi'r awdurdod i'w derbyn ar ran y person a enwyd) chewch chi ddim ei
chopio neu'i defnyddio, neu'i datgelu i berson arall. Os ydych wedi derbyn
y neges ar gam a wnewch roi gwybod i'r sawl sy wedi anfon y neges ar
unwaith. Mae modd cofnodi a/neu fonitro holl negeseuon GCSX yn unol a'r
ddeddfwriaeth berthnasol. I weld yr ymwadiad llawn ewch i
[7]http://www.rctcbc.gov.uk/ymwadiad

This transmission is intended for the named addressee(s) only and may
contain sensitive or protectively marked material up to RESTRICTED and
should be handled accordingly. Unless you are the named addressee (or
authorised to receive it for the addressee) you may not copy or use it, or
disclose it to anyone else. If you have received this transmission in
error please notify the sender immediately. All traffic including GCSx may
be subject to recording and/or monitoring in accordance with relevant
legislation For the full disclaimer please access
[8]http://www.rctcbc.gov.uk/disclaimer

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[FOI #345149 email]
3. mailto:[Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council request email]
4. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/change_re...
5. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...
6. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...
7. http://www.rctcbc.gov.uk/ymwadiad
8. http://www.rctcbc.gov.uk/disclaimer

hide quoted sections

Dear Rhondda Cynon Taff Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Rhondda Cynon Taff Council's handling of my FOI request 'Bullying in Rhondda Cynon Taff Council'.

You have gone over the legal time limit, yet you acknowledged my request. A member of the public has written to me asking that I chase you on this, so it has been publicly noted too.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/b...

Yours faithfully,

Mr Lewis

Yabootoyou

Gummer, Claire,

Dear Mr Lewis

Thank you for your email.

Your request for an internal review of your Freedom of Information Request
has been referred to Mr Christopher Jones, Service Director - Legal &
Democratic Services, who will undertake a review of the matter and respond
within 20 working days.

Yours sincerely

Corporate Governance Team

-----Original Message-----
From: Yabootoyou [mailto:[FOI #345149 email]]
Sent: 30 August 2016 09:28
To: Freedomofinformation
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Bullying in
Rhondda Cynon Taff Council

Dear Rhondda Cynon Taff Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information
reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Rhondda Cynon Taff Council's
handling of my FOI request 'Bullying in Rhondda Cynon Taff Council'.

You have gone over the legal time limit, yet you acknowledged my request.
A member of the public has written to me asking that I chase you on this,
so it has been publicly noted too.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on
the Internet at this address:
[1]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/b...

Yours faithfully,

Mr Lewis

Yabootoyou

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[2][FOI #345149 email]

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[3]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...

For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
latest advice from the ICO:
[4]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Mae'r neges ar gyfer y person(au) a enwyd yn unig a gall gynnwys deunydd
sensitif neu ddeunydd sy wedi'i farcio hyd at 'CYFYNGEDIG' a dylid ei
thrin yn unol a hynny. Os nad chi yw'r person a enwyd (neu os nad oes gyda
chi'r awdurdod i'w derbyn ar ran y person a enwyd) chewch chi ddim ei
chopio neu'i defnyddio, neu'i datgelu i berson arall. Os ydych wedi derbyn
y neges ar gam a wnewch roi gwybod i'r sawl sy wedi anfon y neges ar
unwaith. Mae modd cofnodi a/neu fonitro holl negeseuon GCSX yn unol a'r
ddeddfwriaeth berthnasol. I weld yr ymwadiad llawn ewch i
[5]http://www.rctcbc.gov.uk/ymwadiad

This transmission is intended for the named addressee(s) only and may
contain sensitive or protectively marked material up to RESTRICTED and
should be handled accordingly. Unless you are the named addressee (or
authorised to receive it for the addressee) you may not copy or use it, or
disclose it to anyone else. If you have received this transmission in
error please notify the sender immediately. All traffic including GCSx may
be subject to recording and/or monitoring in accordance with relevant
legislation For the full disclaimer please access
[6]http://www.rctcbc.gov.uk/disclaimer

References

Visible links
1. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/b...
2. mailto:[FOI #345149 email]
3. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...
4. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...
5. http://www.rctcbc.gov.uk/ymwadiad
6. http://www.rctcbc.gov.uk/disclaimer

hide quoted sections

Llewellyn, Julie A,

THIS E-MAIL IS SENT ON BEHALF OF CHRISTOPHER JONES - SERVICE DIRECTOR OF
LEGAL & DEMOCTRATIC SERVICES

Dear Mr Lewis

I refer to your email requesting an internal review of your freedom of
information request.

As the Service Director for Legal and Democratic Services it falls to me
to consider such matters where a request has been made to review how a
freedom of information request was originally handled.

Firstly, I would like to apologise for the delay in responding to your
request. It is always the Authority's intention to comply with the
statutory timescales and provide the Authority's response within the 20
day working day period and regrettably, on this occasion, we fell short of
this target.

Please find set out below the requested information.

This request is being made to make the public at large and people in each
authority aware of which councils are the worst offenders or the better
examples when it comes to bullying in the workplace. All councils have
very similar anti-bullying / dignity at work policies, but there seems to
be a difference in the level of bullying. This is intended to
statistically show those differences.

Please reply to the first two questions first as they are the most
important:

a) Please inform me of the cost of dealing with this request.

Answer – based on the information supplied below, the current staff time
is estimated to have cost £275.00.

1) How many official complaints of harassment and bullying at work did you
receive between the 1st April 2009 and the 31st December 2015?

Answer - 95

2) How many of these complaints were upheld in favour of the complainant?

Answer - 21

Please reply to these questions if the £450 limit is not exceeded or in
order of the questions up to the limit should the limit be surpassed
somewhere within these questions:

3) How many of those which were not upheld in favour of the complainant
went on to Appeal?

Answer - 1

4) How many of those that went to Appeal were found to favour the
complainant?

Answer - 0

5) How many complaints went on to an Employment Tribunal?

Answer - 1

6) How many of these were found to uphold the complaint?

Answer - 0

7) Out of how many of those allegations (the number given to question 1)
did the complainant of bullying claim that the bullies were telling lies?

Unfortunately, we are unable to supply the information for this part of
your request. This is because the information is not recorded in a way
that allows an electronic extraction and would require each complaint
mentioned in Q1 to be reviewed manually. 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.

Accordingly, in accordance with Section 17 of the Freedom of Information
Act 2000 ("the Act") this email acts as a Refusal Notice to this part of
your request.

In our experience the majority of bullying claims arise from difficult
relationships for which the Council seeks to provide parties with
mediation to try to reach a positive outcome.

8) How many staff does your authority have and what is the current
population within your authority's area?

Answer - 10,900 staff and RCT population at the 2011 census was 234,400.

As you may be aware you may now, if you remain dissatisfied, appeal to the
Information Commissioner. You will find further details of the process on
his website at [1]http://www.ico.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Christopher B. Jones
Service Director Legal and Democratic Services

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

-----Original Message-----
From: Yabootoyou [mailto:[FOI #345149 email]]
Sent: 30 August 2016 09:28
To: Freedomofinformation
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Bullying in
Rhondda Cynon Taff Council

Dear Rhondda Cynon Taff Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information
reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Rhondda Cynon Taff Council's
handling of my FOI request 'Bullying in Rhondda Cynon Taff Council'.

You have gone over the legal time limit, yet you acknowledged my request.
A member of the public has written to me asking that I chase you on this,
so it has been publicly noted too.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on
the Internet at this address:
[2]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/b...

Yours faithfully,

Mr Lewis

Yabootoyou

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[3][FOI #345149 email]

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[4]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...

For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
latest advice from the ICO:
[5]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Mae'r neges ar gyfer y person(au) a enwyd yn unig a gall gynnwys deunydd
sensitif neu ddeunydd sy wedi'i farcio hyd at 'CYFYNGEDIG' a dylid ei
thrin yn unol a hynny. Os nad chi yw'r person a enwyd (neu os nad oes gyda
chi'r awdurdod i'w derbyn ar ran y person a enwyd) chewch chi ddim ei
chopio neu'i defnyddio, neu'i datgelu i berson arall. Os ydych wedi derbyn
y neges ar gam a wnewch roi gwybod i'r sawl sy wedi anfon y neges ar
unwaith. Mae modd cofnodi a/neu fonitro holl negeseuon GCSX yn unol a'r
ddeddfwriaeth berthnasol. I weld yr ymwadiad llawn ewch i
[6]http://www.rctcbc.gov.uk/ymwadiad

This transmission is intended for the named addressee(s) only and may
contain sensitive or protectively marked material up to RESTRICTED and
should be handled accordingly. Unless you are the named addressee (or
authorised to receive it for the addressee) you may not copy or use it, or
disclose it to anyone else. If you have received this transmission in
error please notify the sender immediately. All traffic including GCSx may
be subject to recording and/or monitoring in accordance with relevant
legislation For the full disclaimer please access
[7]http://www.rctcbc.gov.uk/disclaimer

References

Visible links
1. http://www.ico.gov.uk/
2. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/b...
3. mailto:[FOI #345149 email]
4. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...
5. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...
6. http://www.rctcbc.gov.uk/ymwadiad
7. http://www.rctcbc.gov.uk/disclaimer

hide quoted sections