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Unreasonable, unreasonably persistent and vexatious complaints procedure and guidance 3. Managing unreasonable, unreasonably persistent and vexatious complainant behaviour

3.1This procedure may be invoked if the Council considers that a complainant has behaved in a manner which is deemed unreasonable, unreasonably persistent or vexatious. The Council may take any actions that it considers to be reasonable and proportionate in the circumstances.
3.2The expectation is that all evidence is added to the complaint file on CRM, for example emails directly to officers or team account, correspondence received and logs of telephone calls etc. This is the responsibility of the service area the customer is engaging with.
3.3In appropriate circumstances, the first step may be for the service area to write to the complainant indicating that their behaviour is considered to be unreasonable, unreasonably persistent or vexatious in relation to their current complaint(s), and to advise if that behaviour persists the Council will invoke the current procedure and implement appropriate restrictions. In some cases, a meeting with the complainant may be helpful to talk through the Council’s concerns, and to explore if there is a more effective way for their concerns or complaints to be dealt with. In the first instance services should approach the Corporate Assurance Team (CAT) to discuss their concerns.
3.4

Before taking a decision to invoke this procedure, CAT will work with the service to consider and check:

  • whether the customer is engaging with any other services and behaving in an unreasonable way. If so, the evidence from all services should be collated so it informs an agreed and co-ordinated approach. The lead service should also be agreed whilst having due regard to the Council’s Complaints Procedure.
  • if the customer is receiving support from social services and has any special needs or circumstances that should be considered, if the behaviours demonstrated have indicated that such an enquiry would be appropriate.
3.5When evidence has been collated by the service and the checks outlined in 3.3 completed by CAT, the service and CAT meet with the appropriate director for a formal review of the evidence. The discussion with the Director should include consideration of the impact of the customer’s behaviour on staff and staff wellbeing. The appropriate director will decide whether it is appropriate to engage with Legal Services to invoke this procedure. The outcome of the discussion with the appropriate director should be recorded by the service and included in the information provided to Legal Services.
3.6Legal Services will review the evidence collated by services and consider the reasons presented for this procedure to be invoked. Legal Services will then meet with all services involved and CAT. If Legal Services believe there is sufficient evidence, they will proceed and agree with the service and CAT the type of action to be taken. CAT will record the outcome of the discussion with Legal Services and the agreed next steps.
3.7

Any restrictions to contact with the Council will be appropriate and proportionate to the nature of the complainant’s behaviour at that time. The list below gives examples of the types of restriction which may be used. It is important to remember that any restrictions must be subject to regular and scheduled review and not impede the complainants’ right to access services:

  • Placing time limits on telephone conversations and duration of personal contacts. <br> • Restricting the number of telephone calls that will be taken (for example one call on one specified morning/afternoon of any week).
  • Limiting the customer to a specific means of contact (telephone, letter, e-mail etc.)
  • Requiring the customer to communicate only with one or more named employees, or via a specific phone number or email address.
  • If a complaint is currently going through the Council's complaints procedure, asking the customer to enter into a written agreement about their future conduct in order for the complaint to be progressed.
  • Requiring any personal contacts to take place in the presence of a second person.
  • Refusing to register and process further complaints on the same matter, providing the customer with acknowledgements only to further letters or e-mails received after a particular point.
  • Banning from or restricting access to some or all of the Council’s premises.
  • In extreme circumstances preventing all direct personal contact.
3.8If Legal Services do not consider that there is sufficient evidence to invoke this procedure or believe there is alternative action the service should initially take, they will discuss this with the relevant service. This procedure can only be invoked with the agreement of Legal Services. Their independent review and advice is based on experience of the evidence that is necessary should a case progress to court action.