Council Staff Safety System Under Fire After Audit Finds Serious Weaknesses...
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Concerns Grow Over Hartlepool Council ‘Employee Protection Register’ After Audit Warning
10th March 2026
Concerns have been raised about how incidents involving alleged aggressive behaviour towards council staff are being recorded after an internal audit found failures in a key safety system used by Hartlepool Borough Council.
A report set to be presented to the council’s Audit and Governance Committee has given the Teesside Councils Employee Protection / Violence Register (EPR) a “limited assurance” rating — meaning several important controls are not operating as intended and require urgent improvement. The register is designed to record incidents where council staff reportedly experience threats, aggression or violence while supposedly carrying out their duties, helping departments identify potential risks and protect employees. However, the internal audit found there was a number of problems with how the system was being managed.
Auditors also found that in several cases incidents added to the register were not reviewed or approved within appropriate timescales, creating concerns about the reliability of information recorded. The findings mean the audit concluded the system currently offers just a “limited assurance”, a rating given when key controls are not working properly and improvements are required.
Previous Concerns
The latest audit findings come amid previous concerns raised about how the Employee Protection Register has been used in the past.
Questions had previously been raised about the system after allegations that at least one council official with a history of Gross Misconduct had repeatedly accessed the register and added claims about members of the public which were later found to be false or misleading. Critics argue these weaknesses in the governance and oversight of the system may have allowed inaccurate information to be recorded.
The register is intended to protect staff, but campaigners have warned that if not properly controlled it could also risk unjustly labelling members of the public as potential threats when the threat itslef comes from the council itself.
Under the proposed changes, only designated officers and safety managers will be able to manage or delete entries, with new approval processes designed to strengthen oversight, with Hartlepool Borough Council claiming the changes aim to ensure the register is properly managed while continuing to provide protection for staff who face abusive or aggressive behaviour during their work.
The Audit and Governance Committee is being asked to note the report and the improvement measures being introduced.
