Talk to Spot

Talk to Spot is simple to use:

• On the website you will be asked a series of questions about exactly when the incident happened, where it happened, who was involved, and to describe what happened.
• Once you have given the information, you will be given a date-stamped record of the incident as a PDF.
• At this stage nothing will be saved on the system and no one else will have access to it unless and until you decide to proceed to the next stage (see below - What you can do next).  

You can share as much or as little information as you want – you don’t even have to give your name if you would like to remain anonymous.

No one else will see it at this stage, and you get to decide what to do next.

You can send the record to the Equality and Diversity team at the Bar Council, or use it as the basis for a formal complaint.

If you decide to submit your record, click on the option to send the record to the Bar Council. The Equality and Diversity team will contact you via the platform to give you information about your options and provide support whatever you decide to do.

Following that conversation, you may decide to proceed with a complaint to your chambers, employer and/or regulator. In the case of criminal behaviour, the record can form part of a report to the police.

Records can be submitted to the team at the Bar Council completely anonymously, and it can open a route to more support. It also enables the Bar Council to build a picture of what's happening, and where it’s happening.

Reports on Talk to Spot have enabled the Bar Council to build a picture of what is happening around the Bar, and to intervene when we see patterns of inappropriate behaviour.

The isolation experienced by people who've been bullied, harassed, and discriminated against is one of the barriers to challenging perpetrators and dealing properly with toxic cultures.

When the Bar Council receives multiple anonymous reports about the same individual, Talk to Spot has made it possible for us to tell individuals who have used Talk to Spot that we know of others who have had the same experience. In some cases, this information has empowered individuals to take their complaint further. At the very least it has let them know they are not alone.

Bullying, harassment and discrimination are nothing new and are not unique to the Bar. But we know our profession can be better, and we want to do everything we can to make it easier for someone who has experienced inappropriate behaviour to report it and stop it.

This way, we can tackle the culture which has allowed these behaviours to go unchallenged.