The Grievance Procedure

Available to any member who feels aggrieved by any other member or officer of the Council

A grievance may concern the general conduct or manner in which the y carry out any formal process of the Council. The intention is to conciliate issues and problems without resort to sanction. It aims for resolution by negotiation and mediation.

Unless the aggrieved person(s) request otherwise, the grievance shall be treated as confidential. Any person raising a grievance or assisting with information in connection with a grievance must not be victimised nor harassed in any way by, any party.

Level I

The members concerned will be invited to meet with a senior member of the Council to air the ir differences and try to achieve a resolution of the grievance. Where possible the senior member should ascertain beforehand whether there is any misunderstanding or other minor issue that can easily be resolved. If this is not possible then the grievance should move to level 2.

Level 2

A written account of the grievance shall be sought, and a written response invited from the other member, as explanation. The written response shall then be offered to the aggrieved member for comment. If the response does not satisfy the aggrieved member th n any further comments, on the shortcoming of the response, may be offered to the responding member. If they are unable to offer any supplementary response that answers all the issues raised the n the parties to the grievance shall be given the choice of:

• arbitration
• the public protection procedure
• termination of the grievance.

The grievance shall be dealt with as quickly as possible and each level shall be limited to 28 days, other than in exceptional circumstances. Information gathered during the course of the grievance procedure shall be assessed on the balance of probabilities.

This procedure does not limit the aggrieved's rights of access to any other procedure.

If at any stage it becomes clear that the grievance is of such a serious nature that it may constitute a breach of discipline then the full Public Protection Procedure shall be made available.