Hartlepool council's 'strong action' pledge over staff abuse

The new policy is part of Hartlepool Borough Council’s ongoing Respect: Everyone Deserves It campaign.

To mark the launch of the new policy, council leader Cllr Shane Moore, and managing director Denise McGuckin jointly signed a declaration setting out the commitment to staff safety.

Cllr Moore said: “We want to send out a message that the safety of council staff is paramount and that violence, threat of violence, aggression, harassment, abuse and intimidation – including online - is unacceptable and will not be tolerated."

Mrs McGuckin added: “When carrying out their duties staff will deal with people who feel angry, anxious or not in control of important matters in their lives.

“The potential for abuse, intimidation or actual assault can exist and minimising the risk to our staff is a key priority.

“Good customer service is at the heart of everything we do and in return all we ask is that our staff are treated with dignity and respect. Sadly, that is not always the case.

"We want people who abuse our staff to be in no doubt that we will take strong action against them.”

In the event of an incident, a range of actions are is open to the council, including restricting or removing access to council buildings, issuing a Community Protection Warning, civil Injunctions or Criminal Behaviour Orders, reporting the incident to police and seeking legal action.​

The safety policy also applies to councillors, council volunteers, agency staff and those working on the authority's behalf.