Unreasonable customer behaviour policy

1. Background

1.1 Swansea Council is committed to serving all of its customers and service users impartially, aiming to provide high-quality service to everyone who communicates with us. The council has a Customer Charter and Service Standards, which articulate our commitment to Swansea residents and businesses.

1.2 Residents are expected to engage with the council in a courteous and respectful manner. This includes using polite language during all communications, following any procedural guidelines provided, and being patient while awaiting responses. They should aim to provide clear and accurate information to facilitate smooth and efficient resolution of their inquiries. Active cooperation and understanding of the limitations and processes of the council are also appreciated, ensuring a collaborative effort in resolving any issues. Constructive feedback is encouraged, as it helps the council to improve its services. By adopting these positive behaviours, residents contribute to a productive and harmonious relationship with the council.

1.3 The contact that customers and service users have with the council is not normally limited or restricted. However, there are occasions when a small number of customers or service users act in an unacceptable or unreasonable manner. In some cases, the frequency and nature of their contact with the council can hinder the consideration of their own or other people's enquiries. In some instances, the sheer number or nature of their inquiries leads them to be considered 'persistent' or 'vexatious' in their dealings with staff.

1.4 This policy will be invoked either when there has been a single, serious incident of unreasonable or unacceptable behaviour by a customer, or where a customer is repeatedly behaving in an unreasonable manner. Non-exhaustive examples of this type of conduct are set out in paragraph 2 below.

1.5 In exceptional cases, the council reserves the right to take action to manage contact in order to protect the interests of staff, councillors, commissioned service providers and their staff, and the wider public. Any reference to staff and employees includes those employed by organisations providing services on the council's behalf.

1.6 Whilst managing future contact, the council will still aim to resolve any legitimate concerns that have been raised, if possible.

1.7 The council recognises that members of the public who feel dissatisfied with being designated as persistent or vexatious may feel angry about their treatment.

1.8 It is also recognised that there may be situations where behaviour that may initially appear to be unreasonable may actually be due to certain health conditions. Although this is a difficult area, the council undertakes that whenever such circumstances are identified, every effort will be made to make reasonable adjustments and provide appropriate assistance. However, the council has a duty of care towards the safety and welfare of its staff and a balancing exercise has to be undertaken.

1.9 This policy will be used in conjunction with the Violence and Aggression Policy.

1.10 No member of staff, councillor, or partner should be subjected to unreasonable customer behaviour.

2. What is unreasonable customer conduct? 

2.1 Whilst it cannot be precisely defined, examples of conduct which may be considered as unreasonable are listed below (the list is not exhaustive): 

a) Acts or threats of violence or aggression by an individual toward staff, members of council or any third party. (note: In such cases, members of the public may have their names recorded on a register for health and safety reasons and is subject to a separate procedure). Examples include the use of bad language, swearing or smoking around staff at council premises, placing staff in a dangerous situation, including risk from aggressive animals or unsafe environments.

b) Failure to show respect in dealings with staff or council members, or acting in a threatening or abusive way. This includes instances of 'unusual' or 'abnormal' behaviour that may lead a third party to the genuine perception that they may be at risk of harm (defined as "physical injury or mental damage").

c) Hindering objective consideration of an enquiry or operation of a service by the nature or frequency of contact with the council.

d) Making malicious, unwelcome, unwarranted, or defamatory comments, or making remarks which are related to any protected characteristic as defined by the Equality Act 2010.

e) Continuing to attempt to make unwarranted or unjustified representations during ongoing attempts to resolve existing issues, or attempting to improperly influence or change aspects of the enquiry, during investigation.

f) Persistent correspondence to officers and councillors and copying in a wide cohort of people, for example sending multiple emails in a short timeframe.

g) Continuing to attempt to pursue any matter, having exhausted all stages of the corporate or other statutory complaints procedure. This includes complaints repeated in their original form or where the substance of a complaint is the same as that originally made. This will also apply in cases where the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales has completed an investigation and closed the case.

h) Seeking an unrealistic outcome and persisting in doing so despite being clearly advised of the justification for the decision.

i) Any other type of threatening or coercive behaviour towards staff including any actions which limit their movement, such as blocking access to entrances or exits, locking doors to prevent exit of premises, not allowing them to leave a room or premises, or insisting on actions outside the scope of their job.

j) Repeatedly submitting communications containing pseudo-legal terminology and arguments against council decisions that have no sound legal basis possibly with the aim of avoiding taxes, levies, or other charges administered by the authority. This includes letters and notices served on the council's chief executive, or other officers, with the same misleading reasoning.

k) Organised Pseudo-legal Commercial Arguments. Making various spurious legal arguments, couched in pseudo legal terms, based on hypothetical situations with no basis in UK law. An example of this would be where members of the public do not feel bound by the laws of the United Kingdom because they do not consent to them or misapply archaic or modern law to dispute money owed to the council or challenge service decisions.

l) The use of social media to abuse, harass, or make inappropriate comments towards and/or about staff. 

Please note: 

1. Contact may be in person, by telephone, letter, email, text / livechat or via social media; 
2. References to an individual or person include a group or a number of individuals. 

3. Action the council may take 

3.1 Stage 1: immediate action

If a service department considers that a person is acting unreasonably, this will be explained to that person, and they will be asked to change their behaviour. This applies to all settings where services are delivered including home visits and to their family and friends who may be in attendance.

3.2 If an employee feels that a customer / service user is behaving in a manner which they feel is unacceptable, whether over the telephone, face-to-face or by means of written correspondence including email or social media, they may:

• Explain clearly but politely that the council expects its employees to be treated with respect and ask them to control their behaviour.
• Explain the impact of their behaviour on the service and / or other users, for example excessive contact to multiple officers on the same issue, taking vital resources away from other customers / service users and impacting the service.
• If the customer / service user persists with their behaviour, they should be warned that action will be taken appropriate to the method of contact. Further action involves terminating the telephone call, asking the customer / service user to leave council premises, or staff leaving the premises if undertaking a home visit. The employee should clearly explain to the customer why they are terminating contact, such as, "I am not prepared to continue the conversation as I consider your behaviour inappropriate."
• If the customer persists, then further action should be taken.

3.3 The details of the incident (including the date and time) should be recorded and reported to the line manager. This information can be retained and should be readily available in cases where the matter is escalated.

3.4 If a customer acts in a discriminatory manner, contact with the customer / service user should be ended without delay and the employee should raise this with their line manager, who should deal with the incident as a stage 2 issue.

3.5 In cases where the customer / service user acts in an aggressive or violent manner, the employee should take action in line with Corporate Health and Safety's Violence and Aggression Policy and guidance.

3.6 In cases where employees believe that a customer / service user is being unreasonable, they should refer the matter to their line manager who should assess what action should be taken - employees are not authorised to supply their own sanction for this type of behaviour. Should the line manager conclude that behaviour is unreasonable, then they may respond on behalf of the employee under stage 1 above, or if considered more serious or relates to persistent contact, stage 2 actions can be applied.

3.7 Heads of Service may decide the unreasonable behaviour should be dealt with immediately at stage 2.

3.8 Stage 2 - further service actions

If the behaviour highlighted at stage 1 continues, the service department will note the comments, and the Head of Service will notify the Head of Digital and Customer Services, requesting that stage 2 remedial action(s) be implemented as set out in this policy. 

3.9 The Head of Digital and Customer Services will then discuss the case with the relevant Senior Manager / Head of Service and determine the appropriate course of action. Also, they will decide which officer is best placed to respond to the original referral and who should respond to the customer / service user. That may be a Service Manager, Head of Service, or the Head of Digital and Customer Services acting on behalf of the Chief Executive.

3.10 The varying circumstances of each case will always be considered.

3.11 The council reserves the right to implement the policy stage 2 actions immediately without first issuing a warning as set out in 3.1 above. This power will only be used in exceptional circumstances. In all such cases, the person(s) against which action has been taken under this policy will be provided with the reasons why immediate action was considered appropriate, and rights of appeal will not be affected.

3.12 The type of actions / restrictions that can be applied include: 

a) Requiring contact to take place with a named member of staff or team as a single point of contact (SPOC), or at a particular time or place. Contact may also be subject to appropriate conditions.

b) Restricting telephone calls to specific days and times.

c) Exclusion from one or more buildings controlled by the council, due to the person's unreasonable or violent behaviour. Exclusions will normally be for a specified duration, but in extreme cases may be permanent. The duration of all exclusions will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Where exclusion has been imposed and is subsequently ignored, the period of exclusion may be immediately reviewed and extended. The council may seek a court injunction to support the original (and, where relevant, the extended) exclusion. See section 4 below for more detail on exclusions. 

d) Other actions / restrictions not mentioned here may be implemented at the council's absolute discretion where actions a) to c) above are not considered appropriate, providing the Head of Digital and Customer Services and the relevant Head of Service (if different) agree that such action is both reasonable and proportionate. 

Note: The above actions / restrictions are not mutually exclusive and can be applied as appropriate at the discretion of the council. 

3.13 Where it is determined that implementation of the actions outlined above is necessary, the appropriate officer agreed at 3.9 and 3.10 will write to tell the person / group why it is believed their behaviour is unacceptable, the action that is being taken, and the proposed duration. In all circumstances where a right of appeal is allowed, the letter will also explain how to challenge the decision if this is disputed (except in the case of exclusions - see section 4 below). 

4. Threats to health and safety / potential criminal action

4.1 If a staff member feels threatened by contact with members of the public they will report their fears to their Service Manager (i.e. normally a third tier officer).

4.2 Where it is considered there is an imminent risk of harm, the Service Manager may immediately temporarily exclude the customer from the premises to stop the situation from escalating further. 

4.3 If the Service Manager believes the customer should be excluded on a long-term basis, the case for exclusion must be made to their Head of Service for consideration in conjunction with the Head of Digital and Customer Services under the provisions of 3.12 c) and d) above. 

4.4 The Service Manager will complete the appropriate health and safety (HS3) incident report form, forward a copy to the Corporate Health and Safety Service and as part of the action arising from their investigation will consider: 

a) Writing to the customer, requiring no repetition of the behaviour and, if necessary, setting conditions and restrictions for further contact with staff. This could include restrictions upon attendance at council premises, together with appropriate restrictions, such as supervision by security staff.

b) Reporting the matter to the Police. Reporting the matter to the police does not prevent the council from taking its own actions under this policy.

c) Using injunctions to stop serious unreasonable customer behaviour.

4.5 If dealing with threatening, rude or abusive behaviour in a telephone conversation, the staff member will explain that they will terminate the call if the behaviour continues. If despite this warning the behaviour continues, the call will be terminated and a note placed on the case file to explain why this action was taken. Staff will respond to repeated calls in the same way.

4.6 Repeated calls may be deemed to be harassment, which, after consultation with the Head of Service, will be reported to the Police.

4.7 Any infringements of the rights of a member of staff may also result in legal action being taken by the authority.

4.8 Any physical or verbal assaults on a member of staff, council member or against any other customer will be reported to the police.

4.9 There will be no right of appeal against a decision to exclude a person / group from one or more buildings, where that decision was made for reasons as set out in 3.12 c) above.

4.10 The council holds a register of people who pose a risk to staff and councillors, which is under a separate policy.

4.11 The Service Manager will review their risk assessments to ensure that suitable control measures are in place to prevent recurrences as far as is practicable.

4.12 In all cases the Head of Service should also inform Corporate Property Services and Security.

5. Related matters

5.1 New issues raised by members of the public who have been designated as persistent or vexatious will be treated on their merits. This will avoid a failure to respond to a request for service made in an appropriate fashion, or a request for information where the council must comply with any statutory requirements.

5.2 However, persistent unreasonable behaviour, or exceptionally unreasonable behaviour may result in a refusal of further contact on any matter.

5.3 Withdrawal of any action taken under this policy must be undertaken in consultation with the Head of Service who agreed the original sanction.

5.4 Records of actions to be taken will be maintained by the Complaints Section. A review will be carried out on a 12 monthly basis to determine whether a member of the public should continue to be treated as persistent or vexatious. This review will be conducted by the Head of Digital and Customer Services in consultation with the relevant Head of Service (if different). 

6. Electronic recording of oral communication 

6.1 The electronic recording of meetings or telephone conversations by customers and service users may be considered intimidating to staff or councillors. If a customer intends electronically recording a conversation by any means (for example on a mobile phone or Dictaphone), that intention must be made clear to the other party beforehand.

6.2 There is no obligation for a member of staff / councillor to agree to the electronic recording of conversations / meetings. Where a member of staff / councillor states that they are not happy to proceed with an electronically recorded conversation / meeting, the customer will be expected to agree not to electronically record the conversation / meeting.

6.3 If the member of staff / councillor is happy to continue with an electronically recorded conversation/meeting, the recording must only be retained for personal use by the customer to help with their recollection of the discussion. Electronic recordings must not be shared with any third party for any reason, and this would include posting the sound recording / film on any social media channels. 

6.4 Any covert recording of telephone calls / meetings by customers / service users will be considered as unreasonable behaviour and the customer would therefore be subject to appropriate actions as outlined in this policy.

6.5 The council may record its calls, which is under a separate policy.

7. Appeals

7.1 Customers / service users have the right to appeal against decisions to invoke this policy, except where the decision relates to exclusion(s) from buildings for reasons as set out in 3.12 c) above. Appeals must be made within 15 working days of notification of a decision to invoke the policy.

7.2 Appeals against any decision to manage contact with the council under the terms of this policy (other than a decision to exclude from buildings) must be made in writing to the Monitoring Officer, who will acknowledge receipt of the appeal and refer it to a senior officer panel. The decision to invoke the Policy and any course of action taken under this policy will remain in place until an appeal is dealt with by the panel.

7.3 The panel will be comprised of one Head of Service from services outside of the area that has invoked the policy, the Corporate Health and Safety and Wellbeing Manager, and the Monitoring Officer, in order to provide independence from the case.  The decision of the senior officer panel is final and will be conveyed to the appellant in writing by the Monitoring Officer within 10 clear working days of the meeting. The panel will consider representations on the matter from the complainant and any relevant Officers. The panel will be supported by the Head of Digital and Customer Services. An appellant has no automatic right to have a personal hearing before the panel.

8. Summary

8.1 Swansea Council has policies in place to protect all members of the public from unsatisfactory service. The council respects the rights of these individuals or groups to make service requests or to complain and have established procedures to facilitate this. However, this must be done in an appropriate and reasonable manner which also ensures the safety of its staff. This policy seeks to ensure that this is achieved and that the rights of customers / service users, staff and council members are respected.

Updated: February 2025