Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme

Last updated

The Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) is a scheme set up by the British Houses of Parliament which investigates complaints about inappropriate behaviour, such as bullying, harassment or sexual misconduct, and provides advice to complainants. Any current or former member of the Parliamentary community is able to raise an issue with the ICGS. The scheme operates under the oversight of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. [1]

Contents

The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is the decision-maker in cases involving Members of Parliament. If the Commissioner decides that a respondent should be sanctioned, they refer the case to the Independent Expert Panel to determine the sanction. [2]

The ICGS set up a Behaviour Code that MPs, Lords, visitors to or employees in parliament must abide by. It also runs a helpline for people to seek advice. [3] The director is Jo Willows. [1]

The body was formed in 2018 following the MeToo movement and was devised to tackle MPs' sexual misconduct. [4] [3]

In 2021, 388 people contacted the ICGS's helpline for advice, 293 in 2019–2020 and 285 in 2018–2019. In 2021, 48 investigations were carried out. The investigations were criticised for taking too long in a 2021 report by HR director Alison Stanley. The average time for an investigation to be concluded was 196 days. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Bone</span> British politician (born 1952)

Peter William Bone is a British politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wellingborough from 2005 until 2023. A member of the Conservative Party, he had sat as an independent in the House of Commons after the Conservative whip was withdrawn from him in 2023, until he was removed by a recall petition in December of that year. He campaigned for Brexit in the EU referendum and was part of the political advisory board of Leave Means Leave. From July to September 2022, he served as Deputy Leader of the House of Commons.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is an officer of the British House of Commons. The work of the officer is overseen by the Commons Select Committee on Standards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominic Raab</span> British politician (born 1974)

Dominic Rennie Raab is a British Conservative Party politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Esher and Walton since 2010. From 2019 to 2023, with a brief period out of office during the Truss premiership, Raab was deputy to prime ministers Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak - as First Secretary of State until 2021 then as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom until 2023. Additionally he has served in the cabinet positions of Brexit Secretary, Foreign Secretary, Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Pincher</span> British Conservative politician (born 1969)

Christopher John Pincher is a British former politician and member of the Conservative Party who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamworth from 2010 until his resignation in 2023. Pincher served as Government Deputy Chief Whip, and Treasurer of the Household from 2018 to 2019 and from February to June 2022.

The Commons Select Committee on Standards is appointed by the House of Commons to oversee the work of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Recall of MPs Act 2015</span> United Kingdom constitutional legislation

The Recall of MPs Act 2015 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that makes provision for constituents to recall their member of Parliament (MP) and trigger a by-election. It received royal assent on 26 March 2015 after being introduced on 11 September 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Grady</span> Scottish politician (born 1980)

Patrick John Grady is a Scottish politician. He was elected at the 2015 UK general election as the Scottish National Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow North. He was re-elected in 2017 and in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Warburton</span> British politician (born 1965)

David John Warburton is a British former politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Somerton and Frome from 2015 until his resignation in 2023. On his election in the 2015 general election he represented the Conservative Party, but was suspended from the party in April 2022 pending the outcome of an Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) investigation into allegations, eventually withdrawn, of harassment and class A drug use. Prior to entering politics, he was the founder, chief executive and chairman of Pitch Entertainment Group. On 17 June 2023, Warburton announced his resignation as an MP, triggering a by-election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Chalk</span> British politician (born 1976)

Alexander John Gervase Chalk is a British politician and barrister serving as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice since April 2023. He was elected Member of Parliament for Cheltenham in 2015. Chalk has previously served in other positions in the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Defence, and as Solicitor General for England and Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patricia Gibson</span> Scottish SNP politician

Patricia Gibson is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician serving as SNP Attorney General Spokesperson since September 2023. She served as the SNP Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government since 2021 to 2022. She has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Ayrshire and Arran since winning the seat at the 2015 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Matheson (politician)</span> British Labour politician (born 1968)

Christian John Patrick Matheson is a former Labour Party politician. He served as Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of City of Chester from winning the seat in the 2015 general election until his resignation in October 2022 following sexual misconduct allegations. Matheson has been described as having "slightly left-of-centre views".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jared O'Mara</span> British former politician and fraudster

Jared Cain O'Mara is a British convicted fraudster and former politician who was Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Hallam from 2017 to 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Westminster sexual misconduct allegations</span>

A series of allegations concerning the involvement of British politicians in cases of sexual harassment and assault arose in October and November 2017. Allegations were prompted by discussions among junior staff employed in the UK Parliament at Westminster following the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations in Hollywood earlier in October, and the subsequent rise of the #MeToo movement, but spread further to cover all the major political parties, including political figures beyond Westminster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual harassment in the military</span> Sexual misconduct in the armed forces

Sexual harassment in the military is unwanted sexual behaviour experienced as threatening, offensive, or otherwise upsetting, which occurs in a military setting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rob Roberts (politician)</span> British Independent politician

Robert Joseph Roberts is a British Independent politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Delyn in North Wales since the 2019 general election. He was elected as a member of the Conservative Party.

The Independent Expert Panel (IEP) is a body of the British Houses of Parliament. The Panel was established in 2020 in response to a report by Dame Laura Cox, and replaced the Committee on Standards. As recommended in the Cox report, it is entirely independent of Parliament and none of its members are MPs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Pincher scandal</span> 2022 political controversy in the United Kingdom

The Chris Pincher scandal was a political controversy in the United Kingdom related to allegations of sexual misconduct by the former Conservative Party Deputy Chief Whip, Chris Pincher. In early July 2022, allegations of Pincher's misconduct emerged, including allegations that pre-dated his appointment as Deputy Chief Whip.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual misconduct in the British military</span> Sexual harassment and assault in the UK armed forces

Sexual misconduct in the British military is unwanted sexual behaviour occurring in military organisations of the United Kingdom, including verbal and physical harassment, assault, and rape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2024 Wellingborough by-election</span> By-election in the United Kingdom

A by-election took place on Thursday 15 February 2024 in the UK Parliament constituency of Wellingborough. This follows a recall petition held in late 2023 that removed the incumbent MP Peter Bone under the terms of the Recall of MPs Act 2015, triggered by his six-week suspension from the House of Commons for bullying and sexual harassment.

References

  1. 1 2 "The Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS)". Parliament UK. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  2. ↑ "Independent Expert Panel". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  3. 1 2 Hawley, Samantha; Whalan, Roscoe (31 March 2021). "How an explosive 'dirty dossier' changed the way Westminster handles sexual harassment claims". ABC News Australia . Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  4. ↑ Bird, Steve; Malnick, Edward (2 April 2022). "Tory MP David Warburton has whip withdrawn during investigation into drug and sex allegations" . The Telegraph . ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  5. ↑ Webber, Esther (22 October 2021). "UK parliament bullying helpline fields record number of calls". Politico . Retrieved 2 April 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.