Complaints of inappropriate behaviour (2017)

Response

1. Please tell me how many people have contacted your confidential hotline to report bullying and harassment since it was set up in 2014? Please provide the numbers for each year including 2017.
   We have interpreted your request to be for information about the confidential helpline for Members’ staff which is part of an Employee Assistance Programme currently run by Health Assured. This programme provides, amongst other benefits, a free 24/7 confidential helpline. The service allows staff to discuss and seek advice on personal and professional issues, including:
   • Health and well-being information
   • Financial issues
   • General advice on employment law
   • Stress at home or work and relationship matters
   Additionally, face-to-face counselling sessions can be offered where appropriate
   Some information is held by the House of Commons. The confidential helpline launched in May 2012 and between that date and October 2016 the only data collected about this service was the number of calls.  However, between November 2016 and October 2017 we have also collected data about the nature of calls received in very broad categories.  A very small number of calls made between these dates were identified as relating to concerns about bullying and harassment.  The disclosure of this number of calls (fewer than 5) would allow the personal data of the individuals concerned to be revealed.  This information is therefore exempt by virtue of section 40 (2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), as disclosure of this information to the public generally, in the House’s view, would not be consistent with data protection principles in the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). This is an absolute exemption and the public interest test does not apply.
2. Please tell me how many people have contacted the Commons authorities to make a complaint of a sexual nature since 1/1/2015? Please provide numbers for each year including as much of this one as possible. Please provide the figure since 1/10/17.
   Please provide a breakdown of those dates to include:
   o How many were complaints of a physical nature?
   o How many were referred to the police?
   o How many involved allegations of rape?
   o How many involved other serious sexual assault?
   o How many MPs were the subject of allegations for each period? Please provide their sex and party.
   o If one MP was the subject of more than one allegation please tell me how many allegations they have faced?
   o What was the outcome of action taken by the authorities in relation to the allegations made?
   In the first instance, it may help you to know that there are three main routes to complain about this sort of behaviour in the House of Commons. These routes are:
   • The Respect Policy – This is for staff of the House of Commons complaining about the behaviour of Members or their staff
   • The Valuing Others Policy – For staff to complain about the inappropriate behaviour of other House staff
   • The police – for any individual to make a complaint about criminal behaviour by another person
   It is also worth noting that the Members’ HR Advice Service provides confidential advice to Members of Parliament in their role as employers, however, MPs are not required to consult the service. In addition, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards (PCS) investigates allegations that Members have breached the Code of Conduct.

Under the Respect Policy:
This information is not held by the House of Commons.
We hold records of the total number of complaints made under this policy, but this is not split into categories based on the nature of the complaint. To separate the complaints of sexual misconduct, a sophisticated judgement would have to be made about the information held, and we are not obliged to carry out this breakdown or create this information as a result of a FOI request.
Please also note that the House does not take disciplinary action against Members’ staff or Members, as this is a matter for the Member who employs the staff or their political party respectively.

Under the Valuing Others Policy:
This information is not held by the House of Commons.
We hold records of the total number of complaints made under this policy, but the complaints nor the action taken are not split into categories based on the nature of the complaint. To separate the complaints of sexual misconduct, a sophisticated judgement would have to be made about the information held, and we are not obliged to carry out this breakdown or create this information as a result of a FOI request.

Complaints made to the police:
The Metropolitan Police Service routinely publish information about all notifiable offences on the parliamentary estate on a quarterly basis. This is available to view on their website. You may wish to redirect your request to them for further information such as the alleged subject’s gender, party or outcome/actions taken by the police. No other information is held by the House of Commons.

Complaints made to Members’ HR:
The House holds records of some grievances for which MPs have sought advice from the Members’ HR Advice Service.
For complaints by MPs or their staff of sexual misconduct (including details of any disciplinary action recorded) in 2015, 2016 and 2017, the number is very small (fewer than 5 cases). The disclosure of the number of cases or subsequent actions with fewer than 5 occurrences would allow the personal data of the individuals concerned to be revealed. This information is therefore exempt by virtue of section 40 (2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), as disclosure of this information to the public generally, in the House’s view, would not be consistent with data protection principles in the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). This is an absolute exemption and the public interest test does not apply.

Complaints made to the PCS:
The Commissioner’s remit is very narrow and she does not specifically investigate complaints of sexual misconduct unless there is evidence that this involves breaching the Members’ Code of Conduct. Details of the Code of Conduct and Guide to the Rules can be found on our parliamentary pages. However, it may help you to know that information relating to the investigations of the PCS is routinely published on their web pages. The PCS makes recommendations to the Standards Committee who consider any further action, and this information is also published.