REVEALED: Only four complaints of bullying and harassment received by Derry council in past six years

Only four complaints of bullying and harassment have been received by Derry’s council over the past six years, it has emerged.

Just one of the complaints made to council was upheld in favour of the complainant.

The information was made available via a Freedom of Information (FoI) request lodged with Derry City and Strabane District Council.

The council had been asked to provide details of how many official complaints of harassment and bullying at work it received between the April 1, 2009 and the December 31, 2015.

The request also related to the old Derry City Council, before it merged with Strabane District Council on April 1, 2015.

The council revealed that between April 1, 2009 and the December 31, 2015, it received four official complaints relating to bullying and harassment at work.

Of these, only one was upheld in favour of the complainant.

Two of the unsuccessful complainants then appealed their cases.

However, none of them were successful in their challenge.

The Freedom of Information request also revealed that none of the complaints lodged against council were taken before an Employment Tribunal.

The council was also asked in the request to give details of how many people it currently employs and the current population of the local council district area.

The council currently employs 1,226 people including casual and part-time staff, with the population of the council area of Derry and Strabane currently standing at 147, 720 people.