Frequently Asked Questions

 

Report + Support is an online platform developed by Culture Shift where students, members of staff and visitors can report issues of bullying, harassment, discrimination, domestic abuse, hate incidents and hate crime, sexual harassment, or sexual violence with or without their personal details.

Students or members of staff who are concerned about other students can also tell us about any of the issues described under the Student Welfare Concerns category.  The platform can also be used by staff members and students who have a safeguarding concern. 

Report + Support also provides information about internal and external support services and relevant City policies, procedures and guidance. 

 

 

Students and members of staff can make a report through Report + Support. Visitors to City and third party contacts may also make a report. Visitors may include for example, consultants, holders of honorary contracts, third party contractors etc.   


3. What is the difference between reports with personal details and reports without personal details?
 

When someone makes a report with their personal details we will know who has made the report and will make contact with that person to arrange to talk to them to provide appropriate support. 

When someone chooses to make a report without personal details, they do not wish to be identified as the person reporting, and do not wish to be contacted by a member of staff in order to receive any support. City will respect their wishes and will not take any active steps to identify them. 

 

If someone wants to receive support and/or consider informal or formal options to address a concern, they should make a report with personal details. Their report will be assigned to either the relevant Designated Safeguarding Officer (student concerns) or HR Manager or Senior HR Adviser ('Adviser') (staff member concerns). 

See below for more information on what happens when you submit a report with personal details. 

4. What happens when I make a report with personal details?

You will receive an automatic response from the Report + Support platform to confirm receipt of your report and information on the next steps that will be taken. 

 

City’s Report + Support System Administrators will receive notification of the submitted report. After completing a review to identify any immediate risks, the administrator will assign the report to either the relevant Designated Safeguarding Officer or to an HR Adviser.  

All Designated Safeguarding Officers and HR Advisers have been provided with individual login details and can only access reports that are assigned to them. The Designated Safeguarding Officers and HR Advisers will receive an email notification that a report has been assigned to them. No identifying information is provided within this email alert. 
The relevant Designated Safeguarding Officer or HR Adviser will then:  

We aim for a response to be provided within two working days. This includes time for the System Administrators to assign either a Designated Safeguarding Officer or HR Adviser to your report, and for them to make contact with you.
 
Please note that Report + Support won't be monitored on weekends, bank holidays and during the University closure days at Christmas.


6. If I need immediate support who can I contact?  

If you are on Campus and are at urgent risk or in need of urgent support, please find a safe space and call Security on 0207 040 3333. If you require emergency help, please call emergency services on 999 (or 112 from a mobile). For all non-emergency crimes call 101.

When you make a report with personal details, you will receive an automatic response from the Report + Support platform to confirm receipt of your report and information on the next steps that will be taken. You will also be provided with a reference number for your report.
 
If you require a copy of your report, you should email the System Administrators - Central Safeguarding Team (students) at safeguarding@city.ac.uk or the HR Policy and Projects Team (members of staff) at PolicyandProjects@city.ac.uk.   


8. If there is an error on a report I have submitted, can this be rectified?

If you realise that you have made an error on a report after you have submitted it, you can send an email to the System Administrators (see contact details above) to request for your report to be archived. You can then submit another report.   


9. Will any action be taken when I make a report with personal details?

No formal action will be taken unless you wish to proceed with a formal complaint. If your concerns relate to the conduct of a student, member of staff (including individuals who are not directly employed by City i.e. an agency worker), or any other person working on campus i.e. a third party contractor, and you wish your concerns to be investigated formally, you will need to make a separate formal complaint, which will be addressed under the relevant student or staff procedure. 

In that event, the Designated Safeguarding Officer or HR Adviser supporting you will provide you with advice and guidance as to the relevant policy or procedure that will apply to your individual circumstances.   

 

However, there are certain exceptional circumstances in which City may take steps even where you do not wish to take further action. This is usually where there are concerns for your safety or another person’s safety. No action will be taken unless a safeguarding risk has been identified, or a crime has occurred or may occur, or life is at risk. Please see our Privacy Notice together with our separate Duty of Care Guidance for further information.

 

Personal data contained in reports with personal details will be used for the purposes of providing advice and support and taking any other appropriate steps in relation to the incident or behaviour described in an individual's report.  

 

Individual level data collected from reports with personal details in the Report + Support system will also be aggregated, and this aggregated data will be used to produce anonymised termly and annual reports. These reports will be provided to the EDI Board, the Student and Staff Bullying, Harassment and Sexual Misconduct Committees, and included in any other relevant reports e.g. HR Annual Report.

Examples of individual level data include for example, the category of concern, if you are a student or staff member, the  School or Professional Services department you work in etc.

Further information on how City processes personal data in the context of Report + Support is contained in our Privacy Notice.


11. What information about myself or others should I provide when I make a report without personal details?

When making a report without personal details, we advise you not to provide any details that name or identify yourself or other individuals. If you do provide details that identify yourself or others, and the nature of your report raises urgent concerns, we may judge that action is required even if you are not requesting action to be taken at this point. City won't take action other than in exceptional circumstances, as outlined in the Duty of Care Guidance.
 

12. What happens when I make a report without personal details?

 

When you submit your report, you will receive a notification from the platform confirming receipt.  The System Administrators will also receive a notification that a new report has been submitted. 

 

Other than in very exceptional circumstances (where you have provided information which identifies you) you will not be contacted directly about your report.  Further information on when City may take action regarding a report without personal details is set out in the Duty of Care Guidance.  

 

The information collected from reports without personal details will enable City to build a picture of what concerns members of staff, students, and visitors have, and provide statistical information that will help identify trends and themes.  This will inform work undertaken by City to  prevent bullying, harassment, and sexual misconduct, for example determining how we focus training and development, and communications.  The data will also help City shape its support services. 

13. Will any action be taken when I make a report without personal details?

By choosing to report without personal details, we are unable to provide you with direct support in relation to your concerns. City will also not generally be able to take any steps such as investigating your concerns, initiating disciplinary or other formal proceedings or passing information on to third parties in order to take your report further.

Information provided within reports without personal details provide statistical data which will be kept for trend analysis and to inform our work on preventing bullying and harassment, and sexual misconduct. Reports without personal details also help shape our student and staff support services.  

However, where information included in the report identifies you or other individuals, there are certain exceptional circumstances in which City may take steps even where a report without personal details is received. This is usually where there are concerns for your safety or another person’s safety. No action will be taken unless a safeguarding risk has been identified, or a crime has occurred or may occur, or life is at risk.

Please see our Privacy Notice together with separate Duty of Care Guidance for further information.


14. What will City do with the information gathered from reports without personal details?

Data collected from reports without personal details in the Report + Support system will be aggregated, and this aggregated data will be used to produce anonymised termly and annual reports, which will be provided to the EDI Board, the Student and Staff Bullying, Harassment and Sexual Misconduct Committees, and included in any other relevant reports e.g. HR Annual Report.

Further information on how City processes personal data in the context of Report + Support is contained in our Privacy Notice.

 

Data held on the Report + Support platform meets the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Further information about how data is collected and stored is outlined in our Privacy Notice. The platform has been security tested by both the developer, Culture Shift, and by City.

As required by the GDPR, City and Culture Shift have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed.  

 

The Report + Support platform has been security tested by Culture Shift and is periodically re-tested to maintain confidence in the application.

City has full control of the data in City's Report + Support platform and the safeguarding case management system, and Culture Shift does not have any access to this.


16. How long will my data be stored on the Report + Support system?

We will only retain personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for and in accordance with the JISC Record Retention Schedule for HEIs. 

 

Staff reports will be retained for one year from receipt on the Report + Support system after which they will be  archived. 

Student reports will be managed through the Report + Support safeguarding case management system and will be archived for six years from 'case' closure on the Report + Support system. 

 

In the event that the platform licence with Culture Shift comes to an end, City will remove all the data from the system and store relevant data elsewhere before the platform is deleted.

 

They are the Central Safeguarding Team (students reports) and the HR Policy and Projects Team (staff reports)  

 

 

It can be very distressing if you have been accused of behaviour which constitutes bullying, harassment, discrimination, sexual harassment or sexual violence.

It is important to be aware that City will not make assumptions on the basis of any information provided in a report with personal details. On receipt of the report, in the first instance a Designated Safeguarding Officer (student concerns), or Adviser (staff concerns) will contact the individual who has submitted the report and arrange to meet with them.  If the concern that has been reported relates to the conduct of a current student or member of staff, that meeting may include discussion about the informal and formal routes through which resolution can be sought via City’s staff and student policies and procedures. 

Where, subsequent to that meeting, the concern is raised formally, in the first instance an investigation would be undertaken in accordance with the relevant staff and student policies and procedures.  No party would be considered ‘at fault’ unless and until that investigation has been completed, and decisions made on the findings. 

All parties involved in a formal process will be treated fairly and offered appropriate advice and support. Find out more about the staff and student policies and procedures in the section on policies and guidance. 

 

If a report is found to be malicious or vexatious, such reports will be addressed under the relevant student and staff policies and procedures.