Policies & Procedures

Vexatious Complaints Policy

Market Rasen Town Council 

VEXATIOUS COMPLAINTS POLICY (POLICY FOR DEALING WITH HABITUAL OR VEXATIOUS COMPLAINANTS) 

Introduction 

This document sets out guidance and procedures to help deal with people who repeatedly complain to the Council or who complain in an unreasonable way.  There are times when nothing further can be done to solve a real or perceived problem and continual contact with the person complaining is time consuming and costly for the Council. This document explains how to decide if a complaint should be classed as habitual or unreasonable.  It then gives advice about how the complaint should be recorded.  Finally, options are listed to help process such complaints or cease contact with complainants. 

Definitions

In this policy the term HABITUAL means ‘done repeatedly or as a habit’.  The term VEXATIOUS can be defined either as “causing or tending to cause annoyance, frustration, or worry” or, by its legislative definition “denoting an action or the bringer of an action that is brought without sufficient grounds for winning, purely to cause annoyance to the defendant” in the Town Council context behaviours meeting either definition will be considered vexatious.  It is recognised that complainants can use repeated FOI or Subject Access Requests as a means of perpetuating a complaint which has been determined and therefore the term COMPLAINT in this policy includes submitted complaints and requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Data Protection Act 1998 as well as those made under the Council’s complaints procedure. For the purpose of this policy the following definition of HABITUAL OR VEXATIOUS COMPLAINANTS will be used “The repeated and/or obsessive pursuit of: (i) unreasonable complaints and/or unrealistic outcomes; and/or (ii) reasonable complaints in an unreasonable manner.”

Criteria for Determining Habitual or Vexatious Complainants

 Complainants (and/or anyone acting on their behalf) may be deemed to be habitual or vexatious where previous or current contact with them shows that they meet one of the following criteria, where complainants:

  • Persist in pursuing a complaint where the Council’s Complaints Procedure has been fully and properly implemented and exhausted. 
  • Persistently change the substance of a complaint or continually raise new issues or seek to prolong contact by continually raising further concerns or questions upon receipt of a response whilst the complaint is being addressed.  (Care must be taken, however, not to disregard new issues which are significantly different from the original complaint as they need to be addressed as separate complaints). 
  • Are repeatedly unwilling to accept documentary evidence given as being factual or deny receipt of an adequate response despite correspondence specifically answering their questions, or do not accept that facts can sometimes be difficult to verify when a long period of time has elapsed. 
  • Repeatedly do not clearly identify the precise issues which they wish to be investigated, despite reasonable efforts of the Council to help them specify their concerns, and/or where the concerns identified are not within the remit of the Council to investigate. 
  • Regularly focus on a trivial matter to an extent which is out of proportion to its significance and continue to focus on this point.  It is recognised that determining what is a trivial matter can be subjective and careful judgement will be used in applying this criterion. 
  • Have, during addressing a registered complaint, had an excessive number of contacts with the Council – placing unreasonable demands on staff or members.  For the purposes of determining an excessive number, a contact may be in person, by telephone, letter, or e-mail.  Discretion will be used in determining the precise number of excessive contacts applicable under this section, using judgement based on the specific circumstances of each individual case. 
  • Have threatened verbally or used physical violence towards employees or members at any time. This will cause personal contact with the complainant and/or their representative to be discontinued and the complaint will, thereafter, only be continued through written communication.  A complainant who threatens either verbally or in writing or uses actual physical violence towards an employee or member will be regarded as a vexatious complainant. The complainant will be informed of this in writing together with notification of how future contact with the Council is to be made.  It should also be noted that Market Rasen Town Council in consultation with the affected individuals will refer any actual or threatened verbal or physical abuse to Lincolnshire Police for investigation. 
  • Are known to have recorded meetings or face to face/ telephone conversations without the prior knowledge and the consent of other parties involved.
  • Make unreasonable demands on the customer/Council relationships and fail to accept that these may be unreasonable, for example, insist on responses to complaints or enquiries being provided more urgently than is reasonable or within the Council’s Complaints Procedure or normal recognised practice.

Considerations prior to acting under the policy

Different considerations will apply depending on whether the investigation of the complaint is ongoing or whether it has been concluded. To some extent the latter is easier to deal with. It is in effect the complainant simply refusing to take no for an answer, and the Council has the option of ending all communication with the complainant, and where appropriate referring the complainant to the Ombudsman. However, where the complaint is ongoing there needs to be some continuing contact with the complainant. 

The decision to designate someone as a habitual and vexatious complainant is onerous and could have serious consequences for the individual.  Before deciding whether the policy should be applied Councillors should be satisfied that: 

•   the complaint is being or has been investigated properly.

•   any decision reached on it is the right one. 

•   communications with the complainant have been adequate.

•   the complainant is not now providing any significant new information that might affect the Council’s view on the complaint or that the way in which the complainant has acted is unreasonable.

 

 

 

 

Courses of Action.

Where complainants have been identified as habitual or vexatious in accordance with the criteria set out above, the options below can be used singularly or in combination depending on the circumstances of the case and whether the complaint process is ongoing or completed:

1. Written notification to the complainant informing them why they have been identified as a habitual or vexatious complainant and setting out responsibilities for the parties involved if the Council is to continue processing the complaint. 

2. Written notification to complainant that the Council has responded fully to the points raised and has tried to resolve the complaint but that there is nothing more to add and that continuing contact on the matter will serve no useful purpose.  The complainant will also be notified that the correspondence is at an end, advising the complainant that they are being treated as a persistent or vexatious complainant and as such the Council does not intend to engage in further correspondence dealing with the complaint. 

4. The complainant will be informed that the Council may seek legal advice on unreasonable or vexatious complaints. 

5.In the case of an ongoing complaint.  Written notification to complainant that the Council declines contact with the complainant, either in person, by telephone, by letter, by email or any combination of these, provided that one form of contact is maintained.  This may also mean that only one named person will be nominated to maintain contact (and a named deputy in their absence).  The complainant will be notified of these persons.

6. The Council will suspend all contact with the complainant about the issues relating to the complaint being considered habitual and/or vexatious, while seeking advice or guidance from a solicitor or other relevant agency. 

7. The complainant will be notified of the contact details of the local Government ombudsman and invited to contact that office if they wish to take the matter further.  

Withdrawing habitual or vexatious status once a complainant has been determined to be habitual and /or vexatious.

 The complainant’s status will be kept under review.  There will be an opportunity, if they subsequently demonstrate a more reasonable approach or if they submit a further complaint for which the normal complaints procedure would appear appropriate, to have their status revoked and for normal channels of communication to be resumed.

Adopted 11th May 2022 - next review 10th May 2023