Severn Wye Energy Agency delivers a range of public services. The nature of those services means that we are in daily contact with members of the public and other organisations. We welcome feedback on our work, but very occasionally a client will behave in a way that transgresses our employees’ rights or prevents Severn Wye from delivering its services effectively.

The following policy sets out what we consider to be unacceptable behaviour, and the action we will take in the face of that behaviour.

The client for the purposes of this policy is someone who is in contact with Severn Wye to make use of services that the organisation provides.

What we mean by unacceptable behaviour

We understand that every situation is different and sometimes stressful. You might feel frustrated – but our staff have the right to do their jobs without being treated badly. We have a duty to safeguard our employees from behaviour which may otherwise cause Severn Wye to breach health and safety legislation unless it takes appropriate action.

Our definition of unacceptable behaviour includes, but is not limited to:

We’ll also tell you if you are taking up an excessive amount of time as this could impact significantly on workloads and/or our capacity to deliver an effective service, to the disadvantage of other clients. For example, if you:

• keep demanding things in a timeframe that we as an organisation can’t achieve
• ask to speak to a specific member of staff when it’s not possible, or contact lots of staff to try to get a different outcome
• demand help for something outside our areas of expertise
• keep raising the same issue when we’ve already helped you or can’t help more
• ask for sensitive or confidential information that we aren’t allowed to share with you
• make lots of complaints without giving us the chance to resolve them, or make an unreasonable number of data protection rights requests.

If we believe your behaviour is unacceptable

If we find your behaviour or actions unacceptable we will inform you and give you a chance to change.

A Severn Wye manager will, in the first instance, ask you in writing to modify your behaviour (including a copy of this policy).

If your behaviour continues to cause concern after being given an initial warning then the organisation will look to restrict communication. We might decide to:

• end the conversation
• limit how much time we spend with you, on the phone and by email
• not reply to all your communications
• only help you with certain issues.

In very serious situations we might:

• stop offering any services to you
• call the police.

If fraudulent activity is suspected we reserve the right to make further investigations.

Where your behaviour is so extreme that it poses an immediate threat to the health, safety, or wellbeing of staff or other service users, you may not receive prior warning that access to services may be restricted. Severn Wye will, however, confirm its decision to you in writing, where possible. We may apply a ‘warning flag’ on your electronic record to indicate you have used unacceptable behaviour, and/or block or redirect your telephone number or email address.

If we decide to stop helping you, you will no longer be able to access Severn Wye services, but at our discretion we may signpost you to other organisations who may be able to help you.

If you think our decision is unfair you can make a formal complaint here.

Download this policy

This policy was updated on 14 November 2023.