Max Evidence 3[43] WGPcomplaintsProcedure 11May'13

Max Evidence 3[43] WGPcomplaintsProcedure 11May'13

Suggested structure for handling complaints and disputes between individuals and groups, Local and Regional Application.

1) Identify a group of (recommended 6 or more) people in your local party who are willing to form a Disputes Resolution Committee. Allow parties in a dispute to make objection to any of these in writing with evidence that they may not be able to be impartial but ensure a minimum of 3 committee members are active in dealing with a dispute.

This is an ideal activity for members who cannot attend regular meetings or take a low profile in the local party and therefore are unlikely to have formed alliances or personal connections with the parties in a dispute. It is an excellent way of involving local members who do not have time for regular electioneering activities but often have experiences which would make them effective in this role.

2) Ensure they have copies of local and national disputes procedures as well as the local and national constitution, provide links to training (see Appendix) where available. Describe the role and brief fully, together with what members can expect from them (see Appendix) on your members website.

3) Publish the membership of the committee on local members website and newsletter, make sure your membership secretary keeps contact details of the committee confidentially.

4) Encourage all parties involved in the dispute to resolve the problem locally first, with the help of national DRC if appropriate.  [CHANGED – see below]

5) If (4) above is not possible, ensure complainants have access to a guide to writing a complaint (see Appendix)

6) The complaint should be sent to the General Secretary of WGP who will call a meeting of WGPC as soon as is practicable. This may be a tele-conference. The sole purpose of the meeting will be to allocate the complaint to at least three members of the local Disputes Resolution Committee as described in (1) above. These should not be members of the same local party(ies) as the complainant(s).

7) All parties should agree to abide by the decision of the local DRC.

8) Inform all parties of the expected time-scale for the complaint procedure- and of reasons for suspension- you may wish to cite the Code of Conduct, Netiquette or local agreements.

9) You may suspend individuals from your local or regional party or exclude them from meetings on the grounds of safety or peace of other members or unimpeded progress of business. If they are to be suspended from the national party for the same reasons this request has to be submitted to GPRC via the CEO. Expulsion may only be carried out by GPRC at a meeting. Some local parties have their own membership schemes and therefore have the right to expel members who do not have a national membership- and if they are not members of the national party they have no right to the national party procedures or sanctions- this should be made clear in the local party constitution.

10)Investigate the allegations and defence. If the allegations are deemed to be of a serious nature, WGPC may agree to a temporary suspension of membership of Wales Green Party or of Wales Green Party Council while the investigation is in progress.

11) Discuss your findings within the disputes resolution panel and propose recommendations, which should be agreed by the panel then any sanctions proposed should be communicated to Wales Green Party Council.

12)Arrange a meeting with all parties in dispute to consider your decision or communicate in writing (email acceptable)if this is not possible, advising them of any further steps to be taken and of their right to appeal if appropriate.

13) An appeal may be allowed if there is reason to believe that the proper process has not been followed or if new information comes to light. Once a decision has been reached there will be no further discussions on the matter within Wales Green Party at any level except to consider a request for an appeal.

14) If any of the parties involved in the dispute are not satisfied with the outcome they may make a complaint to the national Party through Green Party office. However, any sanctions or other measures imposed by the Local Party or by Wales Green Party will remain in force until the matter has been dealt with through the national Party procedure.

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Amendments as agreed at the 11 May 2013 Special Conference:

Delete clauses 1-3 and change 4) [renumbered 1)] to read

‘In all disputes, the parties involved should consult the national GPDRC, for advice on reaching a resolution, wherever appropriate,’ The original paragraph 5, now paragraph 2, should begin ‘If resolution under 1 is not possible, be sure complainants have access to regional and national complaints procedures.’

Ann Were has made a consequential amendment to clause 6) [new 3)] but also wrongly replaced Disputes Resolution Committee with ‘Wales complaints committee’ in her 13^th July letter to Jill Mills.

The amended version is problematic as it requires a Wales Regional Disputes Resolution Committee in 6) [new 3)] but has no definition or way of forming this Committee to replace 1) [old].