Mr. Conor King:

Undoubtedly a robust, fair and transparent appeals mechanism is the cornerstone of any fair suspension policy. I reiterate that we are in favour of, and welcome clarity on, a robust suspension policy. We are also in favour of the Chief of Staff having those powers but they must be accompanied by the requisite checks and balances, one of which is obviously an appeals policy. The others are almost equally important and include welfare checks, personnel support services, and mental health services being made available. The onus should be on the organisation to ensure that the suspension is kept under very frequent and periodic review and that lip service is not being paid, with suspensions being rolled over while the organisation takes its time. As committee members themselves have mentioned, the impact on members' personal and professional reputation, mental health, family circumstances, not to mention pay, career progression, pension and so on, can be huge so proper checks and balances should be included in the regulations.