In January, Jeanne Tarrant started as the new Pastoral Care Officer at LDHQ. She introduced herself on here.

A little about me:  I previously worked for the Royal College of Midwives as a team manager and a Trade Union Officer.  I have extensive experience in negotiations, supporting members through disciplinary action, grievances, supporting individuals in raising concerns including whistleblowing, developing and maintaining relationships with different groups whilst preserving confidentiality and also developing training for shop stewards on the new equality Act 2010 on understanding and challenging various types of behaviour which may adversely affect others and damage working relationships.  And yes I am a midwife who occasionally practises to keep my hand in! My name is French and is pronounced ‘Zhanne’, think Leanne and add Je instead of Le.   I am looking forward to  working with you all in the future.

Time flies – and in some ways it seems ridiculous that she has already been in post 50 days, but in others it seems like she’s always been there. She’s written for the Party website about the work she’s been doing:

 I met with as many people as I could, to gain an understanding of the processes, the responsibility for implementing them and when and how the rules are used. I have enjoyed meeting lots of different people to obtain their views on how the Party works.

In between, I have offered advice and support for those dealing with or making complaints. In general, the majority of the complaints are relationship type complaints, where the complainant feels aggrieved by something said or done by the accused. I can’t investigate the complaints, but I can offer a different view point on the issues. My approach has been to try to see if the complaints could be resolved locally without recourse to the Party’s disciplinary processes. Where this is necessary I have tried to support the various parties through the relevant processes.

I have completed guides to making and managing complaints and one on safeguarding young people and vulnerable adults. I am currently working on identifying those individuals who receive currently complaints and a staff survey which will cover all paid and unpaid staff including volunteers with a focus on diversity and complaints.

Not bad for a few weeks’ work. Jeanne will be at Conference this weekend, so do introduce yourself to her.