Independent Complaints and Grievances Scheme proactively published statistics

In July 2018 the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme was published, comprising; a Behaviour Code (PDF PDF 440 KB) for everybody working or visiting the parliamentary estate, a new policy for dealing with allegations of bullying and harassment and a separate policy for dealing with allegations of sexual misconduct.

Underpinning the two policies are two new helplines, an independent investigation process and culture change work, with the aim of creating a Parliament that leads the world as an example of a safe and respectful place to work and visit.

The House of Commons (including the Parliamentary Digital Service) and the House of Lords are committed to publishing anonymised data on the services brought in under the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme.

Figures will be published quarterly. To protect the confidentiality of those reporting, we will only publish exact numbers where they exceed 10 or more.

The following statistics relate to the Independent Bullying and Harassment Reporting Helpline and the Independent Sexual Misconduct Advisory Service. The helplines are open to all members of the Parliamentary community.

1. Calls and emails to the helplines

Date range Call and emails
19 July - 30 September 2018 51
1 October - 31 December 2018    201
1 January - 31 March 2019 293
1 April - 30 June 2019  238
1 July - 30 September 2019 103
1 October - 31 December 2019 172
1 January - 31 March 2020 201

2. Number of unique callers to the helpline

Date range Unique callers Unique callers for non-recent cases*
19 July - 30 September 2018   26 –
1 October - 31 December 2018   86 –
1 January - 31 March 2019   82
1 April - 30 June 2019 91 –
1 July - 30 September 2019 74 –
1 October - 31 December 2019 94 23
1 January - 31 March 2020 87 13

3.  Number of investigations commenced in each quarter

Date Range No. of investigations commenced in the quarter
19 July - 30 September 2018   Fewer than 10
1 October - 31 December 2018 14
1 January - 31 March 2019 10
1 April - 30 June 2019 Fewer than 10
1 July - 30 September 2019 16
1 October - 31 December 2019 22
1 January - 31 March 2020 26

*As of 21 October 2019, the ICGS was available to any member of the parliamentary community, present or former, who wished to raise concerns, seek advice or make a complaint about bullying, harassment or sexual misconduct by MPs, MPs’ staff or House of Commons staff, that occurred at any point.
 
Figures from 1 April 2019 included investigations commenced either by the Independent Investigations Service or by the independent House of Lords Commissioner for Standards for complaints against members of the House of Lords or their staff, following changes to the Lords Codes of Conduct agreed on 30 April. Figures for previous quarters include only investigations commenced by the Independent Investigation Service.

When interpreting the figures, it is worth noting that proceeding to an investigation is only one option that may be taken forward.