Investigation Policy - June 2026
In this section
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Scope
- 3. Procedure
- 4. Appointing an Investigating Officer
- 5. People Services - HR Business Partner (HRBP)
- 6. Employee Responsibilities
- 7. Sickness Absence During an Investigation
- 8. Notification of an Investigation
- 9. Representation
- 10. Recording an Investigation Meeting
- 11. Timescale
- 12. Support for Employees
- 13. Confidentiality
- 14. Ensuring Equality of Treatment
- Appendix 1 - Guidelines for Investigating Officers
- Appendix 2 - Template Terms of Reference for Investigation
- Appendix 3 - Investigation Planning Template
- Appendix 4 - Template Investigation Meeting Record
- Appendix 5 - Investigation Officer’s Report Template
- Appendix 6 - Protocol for Disciplinary Hearing
- Appendix 7 - Questioning Approaches to Use
10. Recording an Investigation Meeting
An interviewee who makes a statement as part of an investigation will be required to sign the statement as a true record of that interview, having the opportunity to amend it with the agreement of the investigation officer and to add further information. Ideally this should be undertaken at the end of the investigatory meeting. It may also be sent out to the interviewee following the meeting for agreement. An interviewee should be allowed to amend their statement but should sign any amendments they make to the original document. Where changes are made to a statement that the investigator believes contradict what was said at the meeting, it may be necessary to note this and include both the original statement and the amended statement in the report.
If an interviewee refuses to sign their statement, an investigator should try to find out why and resolve the issue. If a resolution cannot be reached, an investigator should include the statement in their report while acknowledging that the interviewee refused to confirm that it was an accurate reflection of the meeting.
The Authority does not record disciplinary meetings/hearings using an audio device. At the same time, the Authority, does not normally permit the recording of disciplinary meetings/hearings by an employee (or their representative/support), given the sensitive and personal data which may be discussed. A covert recording of an investigation meeting may be viewed as a misconduct matter or as a breach of trust and confidence.
An investigator may sometimes decide that a witness statement can be obtained in writing without holding a meeting in circumstances such as: If the witness is not a employee when the facts required from a witness are very simple where a witness is ill and unable to attend an investigation meeting.
An investigator should provide a reasonable deadline for completion and ask the witness to answer specific questions or to include in their statement:
Their name, and where applicable, job title.
The date, place and time of any relevant issues.
What they saw, heard, know.
The reason why they were able to see, hear or know about the issues.
The date and time of the statement.
Their signature.
A witness statement supplied in writing will be of limited use where there are doubts about the witness account or the witness needs to be probed for further details.