You can download a Word version of this policy here.

1. Policy statement and purpose

This policy explains how Gloucestershire Archives responds to incidents, or reports, of unacceptable behaviour, or complaints about perceived unacceptable behaviour consistently and fairly.  Gloucestershire Archives is committed to providing a professional and fair service to everyone.  In return we expect customers to respect our staff, and we will not tolerate threatening, abusive or violent behaviour. 

2. Scope

The policy applies to everyone who accesses Gloucestershire Archives services in person or online, whether they are customers, volunteers (including work experience placements), partners or contractors. Unacceptable behaviour from members of staff will be dealt with in line with the recognised disciplinary procedures that GCC has in place and / or through the Human Resources department.

3. Terminology

Archives are the record of everyday activities of governments, organisations, businesses and individuals. Archives may take many different forms – handwritten, typed, printed, photographic or electronic – and include audio-visual material such as video and sound recordings. As authentic and reliable records, they are preserved permanently because of their evidential and historical value.

Local and family history resources comprise published information about the history of local areas and their communities, for example, newspapers and locality-based books, pamphlets and journals covering a wide range of topics.

4. Background

Gloucestershire Archives gathers archive collections and local and family history resources to ensure they are kept secure and made accessible.

We are an accredited archive service recognised by The National Archives as the place of deposit for public records relating to Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire.

We are a Gloucestershire County Council service.  By agreement, we also provide an archive service for South Gloucestershire Council and are the appointed Record Office for the Diocese of Gloucester.

We are a lead partner in the Gloucestershire Heritage Hub, a network of local people and organisations with a common interest in our historic county's documented heritage.

5. Practice

Unacceptable behaviour may involve acts, words or physical gestures that could cause another person distress or discomfort.  It may mean any of the following:

• Discrimination, harassment or victimisation of any kind
• Offensive or derogatory remarks about an individual or a community including relating to protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.
• Swearing, or being verbally abusive, or using insulting or degrading language including inappropriate humour, innuendo or malicious allegations
• Being physically abusive, or threatening to be physically abusive
• Refusing to follow reasonable requests from staff (e.g. when being instructed to evacuate the building in the event of an emergency / fire alarm)
• Threats of any kind – verbal / physical threats, threats to commit damage when on the premises, etc.
• Vandalism or criminal damage
• Misuse of Gloucestershire County Council equipment

6. Principles

• We expect our colleagues to be treated with consideration and respect when communicating with customers.  Where this does not occur staff may place callers on hold, end the call, not reply to abusive emails or social media (we will review these) or ask customers to leave the site. Except in extreme cases, we will normally give a warning to give customers an opportunity to change their behaviour.
• How we deal with incidents following our initial response will be determined by their seriousness
• When investigating reports of unacceptable behaviour, due regard will be paid to our Public Sector Equality Duty, under the terms as set out in the Equality Act 2010, where discriminating against people with protected characteristics is deemed unlawful. Investigations will take place in the context of our equalities policy, Gloucestershire County Council’s corporate complaints policy and any other relevant policies in force at the time.
• Unacceptable behaviour, if unlawful, may be referred to the police.
• Support will be offered to those who are victims of unacceptable behaviour.
• Serious unacceptable behaviour may result in the individual/s being asked to leave the premises, or the service, or being asked not to use the service for a set period of time.

7.  Who to contact if you have experienced unacceptable behaviour

Telephone:  01452 425295

Email:  archives@gloucestershire.gov.uk

Or contact: The County Archivist, Gloucestershire Archives, Gloucestershire Heritage Hub, Clarence Row, Alvin Street, Gloucester GL1 3DW

8.  Equality, diversity and inclusion

Gloucestershire Archives is committed to embedding equality, diversity and inclusion in all aspects of our work.  

We treat all staff, customers, and anyone else we come into contact with, equally and with dignity and respect. We do not discriminate on grounds of age, disability status, employment status, ethnic or cultural origin, gender or gender reassignment, marital status, nationality, religious belief or non-belief, responsibility for dependants, sexual orientation or social background.  We recognise, respect and value difference and diversity.

We review all policies and the related equalities impact assessment every three years, or sooner if required.  Our latest equalities impact assessment and our equality, diversity and inclusion policy are here:  www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/archives/policies   

9. References

This policy should be read alongside other related Archives policies.

10. Review and revision

This policy will be reviewed every 3 years.    Please write to archives@gloucestershire.gov.uk if you wish to give feedback on this policy.

Document control

Version history  

Date of next revision: 2026