Referring cases to the regional office

The casework policy, as agreed by the Regional Committee, is that branches should deal with cases in the first instance and that enquiries from members received by the Regional Office will be directed back to their local branch. If the branch feel that they need to refer a case to the Regional Office then the rep should make contact with their regional official (RO/RSO) to discuss whether a referral is necessary. If it is agreed that the Regional Office will handle the case then the local representative will ensure that the Regional Office is provided with the appropriate information and documentation prior to the member being advised to contact the office. Any members that contact office directly without such a referral will be referred back to their branch.

It is important that members should not be referred to the Regional Office without first discussing this with the relevant regional official and members should not be informed that their case will be dealt with by the Regional Office before this has been agreed. This also applies to referrals to the Regional Caseworker.

Support with cases

With regards to seeking support with cases, these again should be directed to the appropriate regional official and not directly to the Regional Caseworker. The only people who can contact the Regional Caseworker without first discussing it with their regional official are branch casework coordinators who can contact the Regional Caseworker directly for advice and support. If your branch does not currently have a casework coordinator then please speak to your regional official who can advise you on how to set up this post. Reps who contact the Regional Caseworker without having first spoken to the Regional Official will be referred back to their appropriate official in the first instance.