Listening and learning

Policy on unreasonably persistent and unreasonable customer behaviour (UPUC Policy)

1.0Summary3

2.0Introduction "why the Council needs a UPUC Policy"

3.0Purpose and aim of policy4

4.0Scope4

5.0Policy details:5

5.1 Actions and behaviours of unreasonable and unreasonably persistent customers
5.2 What actions can be taken to stop or limit behaviour?6
5.3 Who can decide to implement action?7
5.4. What steps need to be taken to implement the policy8
5.5 What happens if the customer continues to contact the Council

5.6 Recording actions
5.7 What can the customer do to challenge the Council's decision

5.8 Review of the decision of the Standards Committee

6.0 Consultation and engagement
7.0 Performance and risk management
8.0 Confidentiality and legal requirements
9.0 Communicating the policy
10. Breaches and non-compliance
11. Information and training
12. Evaluation and review
13. Related policies and procedures

1.0
Summary

1.1Any officer wishing to implement the policy must liaise, in the first instance, with their relevant Head of Service and Directorate Complaints Lead.

1.2Any action required to be taken under the policy will fall within two stages:

  • Stage 1 “prior warning”
  • Stage 2 “full implementation of the policy”

1.3Officers must ensure that all necessary support (including advocates) have been offered to the customer in order to help and support them in addressing their unacceptable behaviour.

1.4Officers must follow the process as set out in section 5.4.

1.5All details of the dispute or complaint together with any contact with the Council must be recorded in accordance with the Council processes as outlined in section 5.6.

1.6.The Standards Committee via the Monitoring Officer (or delegated responsible officer) will make the ultimate decision as to whether a person is dealt with under this policy.

1.7Any decision resulting from the implication of the policy must apply to the nature of the dispute and/or complaint and not to the customer(s) themselves.

2.0Introduction:
“Why the Council needs an UPUC policy”

2.1The Council does not normally limit the contact people have with it, whether complaining, making requests for service, information or help and guidance. The Council is committed to dealing with these requests fairly and impartially and to providing a high quality of service to those who make them. It is keen to resolve any dispute and/orcomplaint as early as possible.

2.2Generally, dealing with a dispute and/or complaint is a straightforward process, but in a minority of cases, people pursue disputes and/or complaints in a way which can either impede the investigation of their dispute and/or complaint (or those of others) or can have significant resource issues for the Council. These actions can occur either while their dispute and/or complaint is being investigated, or once the Council has concluded the dispute and/or complaint investigation.

2.3The Councilunderstands that people sometimes feel frustrated, but the Councilwill not tolerate behaviour which is deemed unacceptable, threatening, abusive or unreasonably persistent towards Members, officers or any other person.

2.4Thispolicy is based on the Local Government Ombudsman’s guidance produced to help local authorities formulate policies on unreasonably persistent and unreasonable customerbehaviour. The guidance is based on what the Local Government Ombudsman considers to be good practice in dealing with such customers.

3.0Purpose and aim of the policy

3.1The aim of this policy is to contribute to the Council’s overall aim of dealing with all customers in ways which are demonstrably consistent and equitable. It sets out how the Council will decide which customers will be treated as unreasonably persistent and what the Council will do in those circumstances.

3.2The policy is designed tohelp employeesto understand clearly what is expected of them, what options for action are available, and who can authorise actions.

3.3A policy that can be shared with customers can assist in managing expectations and behaviour, as far as possible, while the substance of their dispute and/or complaint is addressed.

4.0Scope

4.1The Council defines unreasonably persistent and unreasonable customer behaviour as those customers who, because of the frequency or nature of their contacts with the Council, hinder the Council’s consideration of their or other people’s issues, disputes and/or complaints.

4.2There is a difference between ‘persistent’ customersand ‘unreasonably persistent’ customers.

4.3Many people who raisean issue and/or complaint to the Council are ‘persistent’ on the entirely reasonable basis that they feel the Council has not dealt with their issue and/or complaint properly and are not prepared to leave the matter there.

4.4‘Unreasonable’ and ‘unreasonably persistent’ customersmay have a justified dispute, complaint or grievance but are pursuing them in inappropriate ways, or may be intent on pursuing the issue which appears to have no substance or which may have already been investigated and determined. Their contacts with the Council may be amicable but still place very heavy demands on employeestime, or they may be very emotionally charged and distressing for all involved.

4.5Sometimes a situation between the Council and a customer can escalate and the behaviour moves from being unreasonable and unreasonably persistent to behaviour which is unacceptable, for example, abusive, offensive or threatening.

4.6Any decision resulting from the implication of the policy must apply to the nature of the dispute and/or complaint and not to the customer(s) themselves.

4.7There are several Council policies which relate to unreasonable behaviour and must be read in conjunction with this policy, where appropriate. These related policies are set out in section 13.

5.0Policy details

5.1Examples of unreasonable actions and behaviours

5.1.1The following are some of the actions and behaviours of unreasonable and unreasonably persistent customers. The list is by no means exhaustive.

  • Refusing to specify the grounds of a dispute and/or complaint, despite offers of assistance from Council employees.
  • Refusing to co-operate with the complaints investigation process (Listening and Learning Policy)while still wishing their complaint to be resolved.
  • Refusing to accept that certain issues are not within the scopeof the Council’scomplaints proceduredespite having been provided with information about the scope of the Listening and Learning Policy
  • Insisting on the dispute and/or complaint being dealt with in ways which are incompatible with the Council’s adopted complaints procedure (Listening and Learning Policy) or with good practice.
  • Making unjustified complaints about employees who are trying to deal with the issues, and seeking to have them replaced.
  • Changing the basis of the complaint as the investigation proceeds.
  • Denying or changing statements he or she made at an earlier stage.
  • Introducing trivial or irrelevant new information at a later stage.
  • Raising numerous, detailed and unimportant questions and insisting they are all fully answered.
  • Covertly recording meetings and conversations without the prior knowledge and consent of other persons involved.
  • Submitting falsified documents from themselves or others.
  • Adopting a ‘scattergun’ approach: pursuing parallel disputes and/or complaint(s)on the same issue with a variety of organisations.
  • Making unnecessarily excessive demands on the time and resources of employees whilst a dispute and/or complaint is being looked into, by excessive telephoning or sending emails to numerous Council employees, writing lengthy complex letters every few days and expecting an immediate response.
  • Submitting repeat complaints (after the complaints process hasbeen completed) essentially about the same issue(s), with minor additions/variations which the customer insists make these a ‘new’ dispute and/or complaint,
  • Refusing to accept the decision; repeatedly arguing points with no new evidence
  • Combinations of some or all of the above.

5.2What actions can betaken to stop or limit the behaviour?

5.2.2How the Council managessuch customers will depend upon the nature and extent of the behaviour. Any action taken should be appropriate and proportionate to the nature and frequency of the customer’s contacts with the Council. If their persistence adversely affects the Council’s ability to do its work, is disproportionally resource intensive and/or adversely affects the Council’s ability to provide a service to another, the Council may need to address their behaviour by:-

  • Placing limits on the number and duration of contacts with employees per week or month
  • Offering a restricted time slot for necessary calls
  • Limiting the customer to one medium of contact (telephone, letter, email etc)
  • Requiring the complainant to communicate only with one named employee.
  • Requiring any personal contacts to take place in the presence of a witness and in a suitable location
  • Refusing to register and process future disputes and/or complaints about the same matter
  • Where a decision on the dispute and/or complaint has been made, you can inform the customer that future correspondence will be read and placed on the file but not acknowledged, unless it contains new information. A designated officer should be identified who will read future correspondence
  • The above options are not exhaustive and often local or other factors will be relevant in deciding what might be appropriate action. For instance, any arrangements for limiting a customer’s contact must take account of the customer’s individual circumstances.

5.3Who can decide to implement action?

5.3.1Any decision to implement the policy must be taken in two stages:

  • Stage 1 prior warning
  • Stage 2 full implementation of the policy

5.3.2A Head of Servicewill consider whether or not a customer has become unreasonably persistent and issue a prior warning (refer to section 5.4).

5.3.3If the behaviour continues following a prior warning the Standards Committee will consider a report by the appropriate Head of Service requesting that a customer be declared unreasonably persistent.

5.3.4In consultation with the Monitoring Officer (or delegated responsible officer) a decision can be made that a customer’s contact with the Council be limited to a single point of contact, prior to a report being presented to the Standards Committee.

5.4What steps does the Council need to take to implement the policy?

5.4.1If an officer decides to refer a customer’s behaviour as unreasonable, or unreasonably persistent, he or she should:-

(a) liaise with the appropriate Head of Service who has responsibility for considering whether a customer has become a persistent or unreasonably persistent. (refer to paragraph 5.3.2).
(b) contact the directorate complaints leadwho will provide advice and guidance on:

  • the process to be followed
  • collecting and collating evidence
  • the required elements required to draft the final report for decision by the Standards Committee

5.4.2 Action to be taken falls into two stages:

  • Stage 1–“prior warning”. As set out in paragraph 5.3.2 a prior warning will be issued by the appropriate Head of Service and include the following (where appropriate):-
  • An explanation as to why the Council considers the customer’s behaviour to be unacceptable.
  • Notification that the Council will be compiling a log of all contact the customer may have or has had with the Council.
  • The offer of a meeting with an officer of appropriate seniority to explore scope for a resolution of the dispute and/or issue and explain why their current behaviour is seen as unreasonable
  • A warning that restrictive action may need to be applied if the behaviour continues.
  • A copy of the UPUC Policy.

In addition, the Head of Service and/or appropriate officer must give consideration to the following:-

  • Opportunity to help and support the customerin addressing their unacceptable behaviour.
  • Consideration to meeting with the person involved (unless there is extreme circumstances that could endanger employees) and or providing appropriate support as it would any other customer, such as providing an advocate. This is particularly important where customers may have mental health problems, learning difficulties or be considerable vulnerable.
    Officers may not readily identify that a customer has specific needs and therefore advocacy services should be offered if there is any doubt in identifying need.
  • Setting up a strategy meeting to agree a cross-departmental approach and/or nominating a key officer to co-ordinate the Council’s response if more than one department/service is being contacted by the customer.
  • Stage 2 – “full implementation of the policy”. This will be carried out by the Monitoring Officer (or delegated responsible officer) by referring the matter to the Standards Committee.
  • It is essential that officers have satisfied the following factors:
  • Are familiar with the guidance outlined in this policy and related policies including those mentioned in paragraph 13.
  • Consider the customer is displaying the types of behaviour outlined in Section 5.1 of this policy.
  • Consider that the person’s behaviour is severely hampering the officer’s ability to assist and resolve the dispute and/or complaint.
  • That the dispute and/or complaint has been dealt with in accordance with the Council’s Listening and Learning Policyand/or appropriate policies and procedures.
  • That all actions have been fully recorded (including notes of any interaction with the customer) and all correspondence and reports have been stored appropriately.
  • That a prior warning has been forwarded to the customer in accordance with the Policy as set out in paragraph 5.4.2.

5.4.4Once the above factors have been satisfied the appropriate officer (in consultation with the Head of Service) should follow the advice from the directorate complaints lead in preparing a summary report for consideration by the Monitoring Officer (or delegated responsible officer). The report should include:-

  • A brief history of the dispute and/or complaint including background
  • Specific reasons for seeking to label the person’s behaviour as unreasonable or persistently unreasonable together with any further relevant information.
  • Include a log of contact with the customer, detailing dates, times and content.
  • Any related correspondence or other contacts.

5.4.5The report, including any attachments/appendices must be factual, evidence based and unbiased.

5.4.6The final report should be passed to the Local Government Ombudsman Link Officer, Legal and Democratic Services, Resources Directorate. The Link Officer will check that all the relevant information has been included in the report prior to passing to the Monitoring Officer (or delegated responsible officer) for reporting to the Standards Committee.

5.4.7A copy of the report and any related information can be requested under the Data Protection Act 1998 (Data subject access request/file access request) so it is essential that it does not contain any prejudicial language (or non-factual based commentary). Under this legislation the general principle is disclosure of information rather than the withholding of it. Further advice can be obtained by contacting the Information Management Team.

5.4.8Once a decision has been taken by the Standards Committee to apply restricted access, the Monitoring Officer(or delegated responsible officer) will write to the customer advising them of the following:-

  • Why the decision has been taken.
  • What it means for his or her contacts with the organisation
  • How long any restrictions will last, and
  • What the customer can do to have the decision reviewed

5.4.9The Monitoring Officer (or delegated responsible officer) will also notify all Directors, Corporate Complaints Leads from each Directorate, Customer Services Manager, Legal and Democratic Services Manager and any other relevant employees as appropriate.

5.4.10When new issues and/or complaints are made, these should be treated on their merits. Consideration should be given to any restrictions previously applied that are still appropriate and necessary.

5.5What happens if the customer continues to contact the Council?

5.5.1The appropriate service shouldappointa named personto review any future correspondence and or contact from the customer to which the policy has been applied. Consideration will need to be given as to whether the contact relates to an existing issue or should be considered as a new issue.

5.5.2In the case of a new issueand/or complaint this should be referred to the Monitoring Officer (or delegated responsibleofficer) who, will decide whether any restrictions which have been applied before are still appropriate and necessary.

5.5.3If a customer persists in communicating with the Council about thedispute and/or complaint to which the policy has been applied. The Council (via the named person) will read all correspondence from that customer (in order to ascertain that it only concerns the issue and/or complaint to which the policy applies). Unless there is fresh evidence which affects the Council’s decision, the Council will simply acknowledge it or place it on the file with no acknowledgement.

5.5.4If a person’s unacceptable behaviour escalates and becomes threatening or abusive, the Council may inform the police and/or seek other forms of legal redress.

5.5.5The Council has a responsibility to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of its employees. It is therefore important that both managers and employees made themselves aware of those policies as set out in item 13.

5.6.Recording Actions

5.6.1Adequate records should be kept and held centrally by the Local Government Ombudsman Link Officer, Legal and Democratic Services, Resources Directorate. These records to include the following:-

  • When a decision is taken not to apply the policy when a Head of Service asked for this to be done.
  • When a decision is taken to make an exception to the policy once it has been applied;
  • When a decision is taken not to put a future dispute/complaint from this customer through the Council’s complaints procedure (Listening and Learning Policy).
  • When a decision is taken not to respond to further correspondence made by the customer. Any further letters, faxes, emails from the customer must be checked in order to pick up any significant new information (paragraph 5.5.1 refers).

5.6.2All contacts with the customer should be recorded using the form shown on the Appendix.All documentation including actions, notification letters and any other relevant documents or emails should be securely stored for a minimum period of 6 years (current year plus 6 years).
In addition when a decision has been made to apply restricted access the Monitoring Officer (or delegated responsible officer) will ensure that appropriate information is stored on the Council’s CRM system.

5.6.3Personal details about the customer and the dispute/complaint will be managed and stored appropriately in line with data protection and records management and principles and procedures.