Frequently Asked Questions

Report + Support is an online tool developed by Culture Shift where staff, students and visitors can report issues of unacceptable behaviour, and responses can be tracked and reported on. It also holds information about internal and external support, policies and procedures. You can report using your name or anonymously, and if you are the target of, or if you witness, unacceptable behaviour, and choose to provide as much or as little information about yourself and the incident/behaviour reported.

Report + Support is not for reporting emergency situations
Report + Support is for reporting inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour but not for emergency situations such as a physical assault or a situation that you feel may escalate quickly and put you or others at risk of harm. If you are experiencing or witnessing such behaviour, you should contact someone immediately who can intervene. This may be a member of Security staff or even the police, and/or a First Aider or an ambulance if someone has been hurt. Of course you may wish to use Report + Support after the event to provide more detail, and/or you can speak to your manager, supervisor, Registry or HR directly.

What constitutes inappropriate or unacceptable behaviour?

The platform provides definitions of behaviour such as bullying, harassment, victimisation, discrimination, sexual misconduct and assault. ICR's Active Bystander training highlights other types of behaviour which do not necessarily have a legal definition but are nevertheless still inappropriate and unacceptable. including;
 

Inappropriate or offensive humour

Rude, mean, inconsiderate, or unprofessional/unacceptable behaviour

Raising voices in anger and frustration/losing temper

Swearing in a professional environment
Disrespectful or derogatory comments about others/ spreading rumours

Violation of ethical standards
Threats or potential violence

Practices and procedures that may be deemed as or to have a detrimental impact

Sending aggressive emails or emails sent unnecessarily to large groups with the aim of embarrassing/belittling the target 

You simply click on the link, and choose to make a report anonymously, or using your name. You’ll get the opportunity to review your answers before you submit your report, and if you’ve chosen to report anonymously you’ll be given the option to provide your name, or vice versa, if you’ve changed your mind and would like someone to contact you about your report.

ICR students, staff and visitors can make a report through Report + Support.

Can I talk to anyone without making a report?
Yes. You may find it helpful to discuss your concerns with a colleague or one of the many difference sources of support and advice at the ICR before deciding if you want to complete a report, and whether you want to report anonymously or with your name.

The report will be viewed by one of the administrators  (below). They are the first people to receive reports and will review them, and allocate them, if appropriate, to the relevant team at ICR to respond to (e.g. Registry, HR) 

Cherry White, Wellbeing and Occupational Health Coordinator
Vanessa McKean, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager

ICR does not know who has made an anonymous report, and therefore cannot reach out and provide support. Whereas if someone wants to receive support or consider informal or formal options to address a concern, they would make a named report and speak to an advisor.
 
Anonymous reports will be reviewed to identify any risks that relate to duty of care (see 'Will any anonymous reports be investigated?) If no immediate risk is identified, no further, direct action will be taken. If any identifiable information is provided, e.g. third parties are named in an anonymous report the administrator will then remove/encode the identifiable information.

The information from anonymous reports will be used for trend analysis, reporting and inform proactive prevention.
 

Will any anonymous reports  be investigated?
Anonymous reports, by their very nature, provide limited information (as we cannot ask the reporter to clarify or provide more details) and are much harder to investigate fairly and thoroughly, than named reports. Additionally the person making the report may not want further investigation and action. . However, there may be occasions when the person responding to the report may decide that an anonymous report should be investigated. This decision will be based upon the seriousness of the issue raised as well as:

There may still be instances where the investigation of an anonymous report does not provide sufficient robust information and so, having taken all the available information into account, the ICR might decide not to progress further. However this does not mean that nothing can be done; the information from anonymous reports will be used for trend analysis, reporting and inform proactive prevention, so we would still encourage colleagues to report inappropriate or unacceptable behaviour even if it is done anonymously.

Can a third party such as a colleague, Wellbeing Adviser or Staff side representative make a report on behalf of someone else?
Yes. Wellbeing Advisers and Staff Side representatives often tell us that people who raise concerns to them are unwilling to put in a named complaint. While a named complaint is preferable in terms of enabling us to contact people and take appropriate action, an anonymous complaint at least highlights that there are concerns in a particular area. If the person was unwilling to complete a report themselves, they could ask a colleagues, Wellbeing Adviser or Staff Side representative to do so on their behalf, without identifying the person who has raised the concern.

The administrators will assign a case to the appropriate advisor - Human Resources will respond to reports about staff, and Registry or the Academic Dean's Team will respond to those about students. Each of the advisors are provided with a login and can only access cases that are assigned to them.

The advisor receives an email notification that a case has been assigned to them – no identifiable information is provided within this email alert. The advisor then logs into Report + Support to access information provided using their personal login details. The advisor then makes contact with the person who has made the report, and they can arrange a conversation or meeting to discuss the report if/as appropriate.

How soon will I hear back if I raise a concern?
The assigned advisor will contact you within 3-5 working days of your report being submitted.

What action will be taken to respond to anonymous reports?
If a report is made anonymously, there is a limit to the action we can take. (see 'Will any anonymous reports be investigated?') However, any information that is provided will be included in quarterly analysis and annual reporting, such as the nature of the complaint, if the person submitting the report felt that the behaviour was due to a protected characteristic (e.g. their gender or a disability), the Division or Directorate, and whether the person reporting is a member of staff, student or visitor. This helps us to build a picture of what may be happening across the organisation, any specific 'hot spots' and/or topics of concern.

What action may be taken to respond to named reports?
Informal resolution is usually recommended in the first instance, unless the nature or severity of the issue requires a more formal response from the start (e.g. reports of violence). Informal resolution may include:

·       Advice on how to raise the issue with the person whose behaviour has been reported.

·       How to raise your concerns with the person’s manager.

·       Mediation between the parties involved.

·       Discussion by HR with the Head of Division/Team Leader or Professional Services Director about the culture of the team and how concerns are raised and addressed within the team.

·       Offering relevant refresher training to an individual or team.

Formal action would not normally be taken without your consent, unless it is felt that the behaviour is serious enough that it may put you or others at risk, or if it could be considered as a criminal offence, an act of terrorism or an attempt to radicalise someone. In these instances we may need to report the behaviour to the police or under the Prevent Duty.

 The ICR Challenging Bullying and Harassment Policy and Student Complaints procedure outline how formal complaints will be dealt with and details a range of outcomes, both formal and informal.

How will you ensure that reports are dealt with and not ignored?
Report + Support has a tracking and analytics function which allows us to identify when reports were received, how they are being progressed and when/how they are closed. There is a built-in reporting function which allows us to produce reports highlighting this information, together with summary information on the types of behaviour, recipients, alleged offenders, outcomes etc. 

Will the data on overall numbers and types of reports and outcomes be shared?
For people to have confidence in a reporting system, they need to know that appropriate actions will/have been taken in response to reports. We need to balance this with confidentiality - both for the people making reports, and for people who have allegations made against them, particularly where these have not yet been investigated/upheld. 

Summary data will be shared in the first instance quarterly with the Chief Research & Academic Officer, the Chief People Officer, and the Deputy Dean so that they may consider what action may be needed across the wider organisation to address patterns and trends that may be emerging.  All reporting will be fully anonymised and if there are fewer than five cases in a category we won't give the specific number to further ensure confidentiality.

 
An annual summary report will be discussed with the Senior Executive Board, Board of Trustees, and Staff and Student Engagement Committee. We will continue to work closely with this Committee (which contains representatives from staff and student associations and Staff Side) to gain user feedback on Report + Support and to deliver on our commitment to zero tolerance of bullying and harassment.

We also report on numbers of bullying complaints and complaints raised on grounds of protected characteristics in our annual equality report which is available to people at the ICR and externally via our website.

Can I use Report + Support to raise concerns about potential radicalisation of staff and students under the 'Prevent legislation'?
There is a separate process for referral of  concerns about potential radicalisation (the 'Prevent Duty') and so any reports received via Report+ Support will be diverted to this separate process.

Can I use Report and Support to make a Public Interest Disclosure ('Whistle blowing')
There is a separate process to raise public interest concerns such as fraud, malpractice, ethical breaches (often known as 'Whistle blowing') and so any reports received via Report+ Support will be diverted to this separate process.

Do I have to use the Report + Support platform to raise my concerns?

No – you can speak to your manager or supervisor, or any of the other sources of support at ICR such as a Wellbeing Adviser, Staff Side, Registry Team, Academic Dean's Team or your HR Team – the person you speak with should be able to advise you of the options available. This may or may not include you choosing to use the platform to make a complaint anonymously or with your name.

 

If a report is found to be malicious or vexatious, it can be addressed under existing student and staff disciplinary policies  Other users of Report + Support have advised us that they receive very few, if any, vexatious reports.

Data held on Report + Support is GDPR compliant, and further information about how data is collected and stored is outlined in the Privacy Notice. The system has been security tested by both the developer, Culture Shift, and by ICR  

We will only retain personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which we collected it. We will keep records of reports one year from case closure on the Report + Support system as outlined in the Privacy Notice. All personal data will be kept according to the Records Retention Schedule.