Independent Complaints and Grievances Scheme proactively published statistics

In July 2018 the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme was published, comprising; a Behaviour Code 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.

The two policies are underpinned by an independent helpline, 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 2 independent helplines which operated until 2 July 2020. A new, single independent helpline has operated since 3 July 2020. The helpline is 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
1 April - 30 June 2020	238**

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
1 April - 30 June 2020	131**	3

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
1 April - 30 June 2020	Fewer than 10

*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 marked ** include 93 contacts by 93 unique individuals following a single incident on social media.

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.