ALLEGATIONS of bullying and harassment of staff are on the increase at a Gwent council, according to a shock survey.

A total of 758 Torfaen council workers completed an anonymous employee survey which revealed 23 per cent, around 174, feel bullied or harassed by management or colleagues.

The figure has increased by six per cent since a survey two years ago.

And of the 82 staff who responded from the chief executive's department, 60 per cent, around 49, said they feel bullied. The survey was sent out to 3,885 workers at the council, which employs about 7,000 people.

The results are the initial finding of the survey and further research will be done to pinpoint details of the type of bullying staff say they are suffering.

Councillors are to discuss the findings at a meeting today, and Torfaen's chief executive, Alison Ward, is vowing to root out all bullying within the authority.

She said: "We are concerned about the findings on bullying and harassment.

"Research is increasingly showing that bullying and harassment is a growing problem. We are determined to root it out in Torfaen.

"Our records show that we react decisively when confronted with evidence of bullying.

"We need to work with our employees to become more proactive in addressing the conditions within which this behaviour might develop."

The council is to appoint an independent facilitator to work with randomly selected employees on their concerns.

Staff are also being encouraged to share their views and concerns with Peter Durkin, the head of personnel, their line managers or their union representatives in order to resolve the problems.

Alison Ward said: "This approach supports other initiatives we are already taking, and I am confident will provide an effective resolution."

Howard Marshall, the Welsh head of policy and campaigns for trade union Unison, said: "This is a serious issue.

"The Torfaen branch is working in partnership with the council to deal with and resolve the problem.

"They are currently dealing with a small number of cases that were reported by members in Torfaen."

He said the allegations seem to be "mainly a symptom of change within the council".

In fact, the issue of change was also highlighted as a concern in the survey.

Only 44 per cent of those who responded said the council consults employees on the need to change, and only 34 per cent believe change is well managed.

Alison Ward said: "Change is ever present in today's employment world. It seems that our employees believe we can handle it better and we will work with them to discover how."