Aggressive or Abusive Behaviour
- Violence is not restricted to acts of aggression that may result in physical harm. It also includes behaviour or language (whether oral or written) that may cause staff to feel afraid, threatened or abused. It is sufficient for staff to feel afraid, threatened or abused for the council to consider a customer's behaviour or actions unacceptable.
- Examples of behaviours grouped under this heading include threats, physical violence, personal verbal abuse, derogatory remarks, and rudeness towards our staff when they are engaged on council business. We also consider that inflammatory statements and unsubstantiated allegations can be abusive behaviour.
- We expect our staff to be treated courteously and with respect. Violence or abuse towards staff is unacceptable. We understand the difference between aggression and anger. The anger felt by many customers involves the subject matter of their contact with us. However, it is not acceptable when anger escalates into aggression directed towards council staff.
- It should be noted that there are no automatic triggers that lead to the UA Policy being invoked, except for violence against staff. Each request to place a customer under some form of restriction is carefully considered by the appropriate senior officers before any action is taken.
- The number of customers placed under some form of restricted contact is very small in relation to the overall levels of contact made with the council by our customers.
Last modified on 25 July 2023
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