What is Part 11 C&D?
The Part 11 Complaints and Discipline Process is one of the means by which the Church recognizes that all human beings are made in the image of God and are entitled to be treated as such, and by which it maintains its witness to the new life to which we are called through Christ.
The Part 11 process sits within CPD, and is governed by Standing Orders specifically written to support this process.
Through the Complaints and Discipline process, members of the Methodist Church are accountable to the Church in matters of faith and behaviour.
The Church seeks to enable healing and reconciliation to take place through accountability whenever possible. The Church also responds to the call through Christ for justice, openness and honesty, and to the need for each of us to accept responsibility for our own actions.
The possibility of reconciliation or an alternative form of early resolution should be explored carefully in every case in which that is appropriate.
Part 11 is, therefore, a fair process for the Complainant and the Respondent, which is why we work within the guidelines of confidentiality to ensure that only those who need to know about the complaint are informed.
Both parties will be offered support, through the District, or through alternative means depending on the case, as they navigate their way through the process.
Who manages the Complaints Process?
The Connexional Complaints Support Manager (CCSM) is the person appointed by the Secretary of The Conference to manage the cases within Complaints.
Along with the CCSM, there are District appointed District Resolution Officers and the Conference appointed Complaint Panel Chairs and members, Discipline Committee Chairs and members, Appeal committee Chairs and panels.
What is considered a complaint?
Standing Order 1101 states that a complaint is considered a complaint, for the purpose of Part 11, when a statement by any person to a member of the Church, ordained or lay, objects to the words, acts or omissions of another member or person holding Office in the Church and requests that action be taken as a consequence.
Who can make a complaint?
Anyone can make a complaint about a member of the Methodist Church, whether they are lay, ordained, and/or hold an office within the Church.
The complaint needs to be made within 12 months of the alleged conduct, but the Connexional Complaints Support Manager is allowed to consider complaints outside of this timeline in exceptional circumstances and must consult or take advice as appears appropriate in the particular case.
How do I make a complaint?
Each District will recruit and appoint one or more District Resolution Officers whose role is to function as the first point of call for most complaints in their District (see next section for exceptions).
Complainants' should fill out this form, and send it to their DRO. Once the DRO has received the complaint, they will determine whether they feel it can be resolved through an informal resolution process, which may involve support from the local church minister, reconciliation group, the Chair of District, etc. If it is not resolved at this stage, the complaint enters the Part 11 formal process (Tiers 1, 2, and3, see below).
Who is my District Resolution Officer?
Each District will have at least one person that they have appointed in the role of District Resolution Officer. There should be notes on the Districts webpage as to who you need to make contact with about your complaint. If you are unable to find the right person, please contact the Connexional Complaints Support Manager who will put you in contact with the right DRO.
When should the complaint form not be sent to a DRO?
According to Standing Order 1110(3), when a complaint is raised against the President of The Conference, a Chair of District, or a minister or probationer in a Connexional appointment (whether full-time or part-time), or against a lay Connexional officer (including a lay member of the Connexional Team) in respect of conduct in the discharge of the respondents office, the functions of the District Resolution Officer shall be performed by the Secretary of The Conference (or the President in the case of a complaint against the Secretary).
In this instance, the complaint form should be sent to the Connexional Complaints Support Manager who will allocate it to the appropriate person.
Also, if the complaint concerns the District Resolution Officer, then the form needs to go to the Superintendent of the circuit or the Chair of the District. The Superintendent or the District Chair will then inform the DRO that a complain against them has been made.. The DRO must, in turn, inform the CCSM of the complaint to obtain a case reference number. The DRO with the support of the CCSM will triage the complaint to decide which process it will follow.
For safeguarding concerns, see below.
What happens if there's a conflict of interest within the complaints process?
We are aware that within the Methodist Church, many people might know each other through worshipping together, being on committees together or through the stationing processes. This does not always mean that this would be considered a conflict of interest, and therefore we have devised a document to be followed of what the Methodist Church would consider a conflict of interest within the process: See the guide to conflicts of interest.
What happens if my complaint has a safeguarding element to it?
If your complaint has a safeguarding element to it, or is specifically about a safeguarding concern, then the DRO and the CCSM will take this to the Regional Officer for Safeguarding within the District to share with them.
Equally, you may have taken your complaint to Safeguarding in the first place; and in this instance, the complaint will be shared with the CCSM. Where there are elements of conduct and safeguarding, both the departments of Complaints and Discipline and Safeguarding will triage the complaint and can decide to either do one process first before the other, or work in parallel with each other.
How will my complaint progress?
The Part 11 process will ask for the CCSM to triage the complaint taking into consideration;
Time limit – the complaint must be raised within 12 months of the conduct noted in the complaint, however the CCSM is allowed to consider complaints older than this if noting the reasons why they have been allowed to be considered.
Safeguarding – ensure that the ROS has been informed and seek any advice.
Resolution – what is the outcome that the Complainant is hoping to achieve from this process?
The CCSM then has to decide whether the complaint is considered on a Tier 1 process or a Tier 2 process.
Tier 1:
Early resolution
This Tier is where your DRO will be more involved in handling the complaint. This Tier is for substantiating what happened between both parties and looking for reconciliation between the parties and or resolution.
They may use help from within the District to bring around this resolution. During the process, if the DRO is given further evidence, or believes that the complaint requires further investigation, they are allowed to request to the CCSM for this complaint to be considered as a Tier 2 process.
At the end of the process; the DRO will write a report concerning the evidence produced and the outcome, which could be recommendations for further mediation, that the outcome was not resolved and that it requires further investigation. We aim to complete this process within one month.
Tier 2:
Investigation
This Tier is used for further investigating the complaint if it is noted that further evidence is required into the conduct, or if in fact the conduct stated within the complaint might merit a charge and a discipline process. The CCSM will appoint either a;
- Complaints Team Chair on their own.
- A Complaints team made up of three people, Panel Chair plus two other panel members.
- A Connexional Caseworker.
- An external body.
- Another person or body in accordance with an alternative procedure.
Those appointed to investigate will meet with the Respondent and Complainant and any other witnesses that they choose to meet with, if they believe that they can add evidence to the case.
They also can specifically ask for evidence and a response to what has been submitted. At the end of the process, they will write a report with outcomes based around the following:
- Reconciliation Pathway (8)
- Non reconciliation Pathway (10)
- Dismissal
- Recommendations and Directions
- Alternative procedures specified as per Standing Orders 1123(6)
- Send to an Advocate for preparation for a charge.
If during the process, the investigator decides that they are not able to ratify the evidence provided, they are able to send the complaint to Tier 1 with recommendations for the District and the DRO to help support.
For a preparation of a charge, before the report is submitted, a complaint panel of three members must have ratified the evidence and the report for that decision to move forward. This process aims to be completed within three months.
Tier 3:
Discipline
This Tier is when the report and evidence from a Tier 2 investigation recommended that it progress to an Advocate to prepare a charge.
This is the charge that the Methodist Church brings against the Respondent, and the Advocate becomes the Presenting Officer for the Church in this process.
The CCSM appoints a Convener, who will convene the Discipline Committee and appoint a Panel Chair and the CCSM will offer the Respondent an Advocate if they so choose to have one. The Discipline Process is where sanctions are decided and must be followed.
Confidentiality
The Part 11 Complaints and Discipline Process is a confidential process, where we ask the Complainant and the Respondent to adhere to the confidentiality guidelines.
During the process, both Complainant and Respondent will be allowed to have a supporter who can be involved in the process. The process requires that they also follow the confidentiality guidelines.