“Members accepted these to be public posts that appear to contain not only direct quotes but also your own personal views. The Appeals Committee were satisfied that the Faculty FTP Committee had been correct to determine that publicly submitting these posts had been inappropriate in the context of the professional standards set out in the HCPC’s code of conduct. In coming to this view, the Appeals Committee were particularly conscious of the fact that you are a student on a Masters level programme that leads to a professional qualification which involves dealing with members of the public. In addition, the Appeals Committee observed that throughout the FTP process (from the initial departmental investigation meeting to the Appeal hearing) you had failed to acknowledge the potential impact of your actions. You have not offered any insight or reflection on how your actions and public postings on social media may have negatively affected the public’s view of the social work profession. Furthermore, you did not (in the context of comments posted on social media) appear to acknowledge or respect the relevance of the HCPC’s code of conduct regarding professional behaviours and standards. …”
“Members also took full account of all the powers open to them under the University’s FTP Regulations and specifically whether it would have been reasonable for the Faculty FTP Committee to permit you to continue on your programme of study but with conditions in place, for example the appropriateness of issuing a warning or requiring a written undertaking from you. The fact that you had failed to take appropriate responsibility for, or show any insight into, the potential impact of your postings on social media and that you had no willingness to reflect on your actions in the context of the standards of behaviour required by the HCPC meant that, on balance, the Appeals Committee was satisfied that the Faculty FTP Committee’s decision was proportionate.”
“The over-arching objective of the [HCPC] in exercising its functions is the protection of the public.”
“The pursuit by the Council of its over-arching objectives involves the pursuit of the following objectives – a) to protect, promote and maintain the health, safety and well-being of the public; b) to promote and maintain public confidence in the professions regulated under this Order; and c) to promote and maintain proper professional standards and conduct for members of those professions.”
“You must make sure that your conduct justifies the public’s trust and confidence in you and your profession. This means you need to think about who can see what you share. … Even on a completely personal account, your employer, colleagues or services users may be able to see your posts or personal information. It is best to assume that anything you post online will be visible to everyone.”
“Education providers are not standing in the shoes of the HCPC, rather the relationship is better characterised as education providers acting as gatekeepers for the HCPC. That gateway is completion of an HCPC-approved programme. Students who do so satisfy one of a number of preconditions to registration with the HCPC. … [T]he education providers perform a crucial role in providing a safeguard against students who are not fit to practise being admitted to the register.”
“…it is highly unlikely that the HCPC would refuse to register a person on the basis of an allegation that had been referred to his/her education provider, as it will be assumed that the education provider has taken any appropriate action already.”
“On your programme you have the opportunity to develop the skills and knowledge you need to become a professional in an environment which protects the public. You also have the opportunity to learn about the behaviour that the public expects from a registrant. As a student studying to become a professional in a regulated profession, you have certain responsibilities. On your programme you will be expected to meet high standards of conduct and ethics. You should be aware that in very serious circumstances, your conduct may affect your ability to: -complete your programme; -gain the final qualification; or -register with us.”
“You may use social networking sites to share your views and opinions. Again, this is not something that we would normally be concerned about. However, we might need to take action if the comments posted were offensive, for example if they were racist or sexually explicit. Social networking sites are a part of many registrants’ and students’ everyday life. We do not have any concerns about you using these sites, so long as you do so within the standards that we set.”
“As a student social worker, you need to be aware that the MA Social Work is a programme of professional training and that you are expected to behave in a professional manner in the University, on placement and in your personal life (including use of social media). PLEASE NOTE: comments made by students on social networking sites have in the past been the subject of disciplinary proceedings: comments would be judged against the University conduct expectations, Fitness to Practise regulations and relevant professional practice standards.”
“The frank but lawful expression of religious or political views may frequently cause a degree of upset, and even offence, to those with deeply held contrary views, even where none is intended by the speaker. This is a necessary price to be paid for freedom of speech.”
“…the encouragement of diversity in the recruitment of employees inevitably involves employing persons with widely differing religious and political beliefs and views, some of which, however moderately expressed, may cause distress among the holders of deeply felt opposite views.”
“Marketing communications should contain nothing that would be likely to cause serious or widespread offence. Particular care should be taken to avoid causing offence on the grounds of … sexual orientation.”
“Since the essence of the applicant’s religious belief is based on biblical scripture it is perhaps unsurprising that they sought to stand up for what they believed in by quoting such scripture. This scripture, after all, underpinned their deeply held religious faith and their call to bear witness. One effect of the impugned decision is to materially interfere with and inhibit their use of certain biblical scripture, in the advertisement, in support of the call for a gospel witness. (…) It is against this very specific context and purpose of the advertisement that the nature and scope of the impugned determination must be viewed. If the applicant is prohibited or materially inhibited, in the advertisement, from articulating their religious conviction and call to bear witness by reference to the very scripture that underpins it, that restriction, from their perspective, can appear like a form of censorship. The applicant’s religious views and the biblical scripture which underpins those views no doubt cause offence, even serious offence, to those of a certain sexual orientation. Likewise, the practice of homosexuality may have a similar effect on those of a particular religious faith. But art 10 protects expressive rights which offend shock or disturb. Moreover, art 10 protects not only the content and substance of information but also the means of dissemination since any restriction on the means necessarily interferes with the right to receive and impart information.”
“As enshrined in Article 9, freedom of thought, conscience and religion is one of the foundations of a ‘democratic society’ within the meaning of the Convention. It is, in its religious dimension, one of the most vital elements that go to make up the identity of believers and of their conception of life, but it is also a precious asset for atheists, agnostics, sceptics and the unconcerned. The pluralism indissociable from a democratic society, which has been dearly won over the centuries, depends on it. While religious freedom is primarily a matter of individual conscience, it also implies, inter alia, freedom to ‘manifest [one’s] religion.’ Bearing witness in words and deeds is bound up with the existence of religious convictions.”
“Given the importance in a democratic society of freedom of religion, the Court considers that, where an individual complains of a restriction on freedom of religion in the workplace, rather than holding that the possibility of changing job would negate any interference with the right, the better approach would be to weigh that possibility in the overall balance when considering whether or not the restriction was proportionate.”
“To that extent, the reasonable employee is fairly warned that conduct in his personal or social life requires careful consideration of each relevant provision, its purpose (in the better conduct of the trust’s affairs) and its consequences (in terms of the potential for invasion of the employee’s human rights of expression and belief).”
“Like any piece of writing, a code or policy must be interpreted as a whole, and particular forms of behaviour may constitute misconduct even though not precisely specified and prohibited. Nonetheless codes and policies which form part of a contractual framework (in the sense that the employee is required to observe and abide by them) must be objectively construed, by reference to what a reasonable person with the knowledge and understanding of an employee of the type in question would understand by the language used.”
“…whether the law or rule in question is sufficiently accessible to the individual who is affected by the restriction, and sufficiently precise to enable him to understand its scope and foresee the consequences of his actions so that he can regulate his conduct without breaking the law. ”
“The standards need to be interpreted fairly and as a whole. They also need to be interpreted in a way which is rooted in real life and common sense. That is not least because they are intended to guide the conduct of pharmacy professionals in a practical way; they are not addressed primarily to lawyers. The relevant obligation in the standards is to behave appropriately at all times. As the standards themselves make clear, the examples given are just that. They are intended to be helpful and to illustrate what may or may not be appropriate conduct … [T]here may be occasions which occur outside normal working hours and perhaps in a context which is completely unrelated to the professional work of a pharmacist which may be relevant to the safe and effective care which will be provided to patients. For example, if a pharmacy professional engages in a racist tirade on Twitter, that may well shed light on how he or she might provide professional services to a person from an ethnic minority. ”
“Indeed I would suggest that any attempt to provide absolute precision would be undesirable given the context, which is regulation of a profession in the public interest. One cannot legislate for all circumstances in advance. There needs to be sufficient flexibility so as to protect the public interest as new factual situations arise. I can understand that this may be frustrating to those who are the subject of regulation. However, it is frequently the case that there will be a standard set for a professional person or body such as that they must not bring their profession ‘into disrepute’ . … Such a general standard is usually thought to be necessary in order to retain the flexibility needed to protect the public reputation of a profession.”
“…the European court has accepted that, in certain situations, laws must be generally worded and a discretion must be afforded to the body entrusted with enforcement and this may occur without there being a breach of the requirement of legal certainty: Miller v. Switzerland(1988) 13 EHRR 212 , para 29 and Wingrove v. United Kingdom(1996) 24 EHRR 1 , paras 40 and 42. In particular, a law that confers a discretion is not in itself inconsistent with the requirement of legal certainty, provided that the scope of the discretion and the manner of its exercise are indicated with sufficient clarity to give the individual adequate protection against arbitrary interference. As the judge found, the fact that the wording of the policy requires TfL to exercise its judgment in any particular case does not render the policy too vague or imprecise to meet the requirements of legal certainty.”
“a) public confidence in the social work profession was promoted and maintained, and b) that service users were both treated with dignity and without discrimination, but also perceived that they would be so treated.”
“It should not be forgotten that a real problem of homophobic and transphobic bullying and discrimination in educational settings may justify a restriction of freedom of expression under art.10(2). Indeed, according to studies carried out across member states and supported by some government research, LGBT students suffer from bullying from both peers and teachers. ”
“...the question depends on an exacting analysis of the factual case advanced in defence of the measure, in order to determine (i) whether its objective is sufficiently important to justify the limitation of a fundamental right; (ii) whether it is rationally connected to the objective; (iii) whether a less intrusive measure could have been used; and (iv) whether, having regard to these matters and to the severity of the consequences, a fair balance has been struck between the rights of the individual and the interests of the community. These four requirements are logically separate, but in practice they inevitably overlap because the same facts are likely to be relevant to more than one of them.”
“The question in my judgment is whether the proximity of that discussion [that is, the NBC postings], namely the manner and place in which those views were expressed, is such that it is a proportionate decision to dismiss him from the course. ... In all the circumstances I think there is room to argue that the sanction imposed in this particular case for the particular acts which were before the committee are potentially disproportionate…”
“…if Mr Ngole had been able to acknowledge to the FFTPC that he understood why his judgement in making the postings on social media had been questioned, given the expectations of a student seeking a career in social work, and had assured the FFTPC that he had shown insight and reflection, then the Appeals Committee might have expected to FFTPC to impose a lesser sanction.”
“…throughout the FTP process (from the initial departmental investigation meeting to the Appeal hearing) you had failed to acknowledge the potential impact of your actions. You had not offered any insight or reflection on how your actions and public postings on social media may have negatively affected the public’s view of the social work profession. Furthermore, you did not (in the context of comments posted on social media) appear to acknowledge or respect the relevance of the HCPC’s code of conduct regarding professional behaviours and standards. … The fact that you had failed to take appropriate responsibility for, or show any insight into, the potential impact of your postings on social media and that you had no willingness to reflect on your actions in the context of the standards of behaviour required by the HCPC meant that, on balance, the Appeals Committee was satisfied that the Faculty FTP Committee’s decision was proportionate.”
“The FPC was required to decide whether on the balance of probabilities the fitness to practise concerns were made out. This is an academic and/or professional judgment based on the student’s conduct and other factors including insight shown and subsequent reflection. The FPC had the opportunity to both hear from Mr Ngole and also consider all the evidence held by the University, including the Facebook posts. The FPC determined that the University’s Fitness to Practice Regulations and HCPC Guidance are concerned with a student’s health, behaviour and attitude to their conduct and how these matters impact on a student’s suitability or fitness to practise their chosen profession. Having taken account of the posts themselves, the public nature of the postings, Mr Ngole’s lack of insight and Mr Ngole’s apparent inability or unwillingness to reflect on his actions, the FPC had serious concerns about Mr Ngole’s suitability. His poor judgment and lack of insight when posting publicly visible comments on an openly accessible social media site, and his lack of reflection in relation to the potential impact of his conduct on public confidence in his chosen profession, was in their view a serious cause for concern. The FPC was satisfied that Mr Ngole had been aware both of the implications of sharing comments on Facebook and of the content of the relevant HCPC Guidance. In light of the above concerns the FPC determined that Mr Ngole had not exhibited behaviours which were consistent with the requirements of his chosen profession.”
“…this behaviour on the part of Mr Ngole represents a further demonstration of a concerning lack of professional judgment.”
“Mr Ngole’s appeal application in itself demonstrated a lack of proper understanding of the FPC’s reasoning for its decision, alongside an inadequate appreciation of the proper application of HCPC guidance. Our position is that this indicates an inability or unwillingness on the part of Mr Ngole to appreciate or accept that the FPC decision related to his poor judgment and lack of insight and reflection as to how his comments could be perceived, rather than the specifics of the views expressed.”
“The University wishes to emphasise that at each and every stage of the Fitness to Practise process it actively encouraged Mr Ngole to reflect on his actions and show the requisite insight into how those actions were likely to be interpreted and the implications they had for his chosen profession. The University did so, as it sought to support Mr Ngole in addressing its fitness to practise concerns, in order that he might learn from this experience and not repeat such actions in the future.”
“There was no attempt to reach a sensible conclusion or resolution of this disagreement, or discussion of how one should express oneself during a debate on the Biblical view of homosexuality. To remain on the course meant I had to deny my views on the Biblical view on homosexuality entirely and agree never to share them.”
“I would simply repeat that my expulsion from the course was because of my Christian beliefs and the University made decisions on that basis.”
“The OIA cannot interfere with the operation of an institution’s academic judgment. In addition, we would not normally interfere with professional judgment. The question of whether, on the basis of the evidence, a student is fit to practise in a particular profession is a question which can only be answered by someone with specialist knowledge of that profession.”
“Students registered for the MA Social Work course are required, in accordance with the HCPC’s standards of conduct and ethics, to demonstrate a higher level of professionalism and insight in terms of their personal conduct than might otherwise be the case for students studying non-professionally-qualifying degrees. The HCPC’s requirements are consistent with professionally-qualifying degrees across the higher education sector, where protection of the public (and, by extension, maintenance of public trust in the profession) is an important factor. Therefore, Mr Ngole, as a student registered for the MA Social Work, was required to moderate his behaviour (including the manner in which he expressed his views) so as not to undermine public trust in the profession, and to demonstrate insight into his actions. (…) Moreover, as a student social worker, Mr Ngole was expected to have the insight to see for himself how his social media activity might impact on public trust and confidence in the profession – and to exercise care in what he posted so as not to damage that trust and confidence.”
“We are satisfied that the sanction imposed by the Appeals Committee was within its remit and was reasonable and proportionate in this instance. The sanction was not about punishing Mr Ngole, but rather was concerned with maintaining the reputation and standards of the social work profession. We are satisfied that the Committee was entitled to consider a lack of insight when considering the risk of repetition of the behaviour and whether the behaviour was remediable. Given Mr Ngole’s statements about putting forward his views in the same way in future, and given the Committee’s conclusions about the level of insight he had demonstrated, we are satisfied that it was reasonable for the Committee not to impose a lesser sanction. We are satisfied that any lesser sanction would have required Mr Ngole to recognise and acknowledge the University’s concerns which, on the basis of the documentation we have seen, he did not appear willing to do.”
“[A]s environments of research and learning, universities have a special role in encouraging debate, the free exploration and exchange of ideas, free speech and freedom of enquiry, and we note that special legal status applies to the promotion of free speech within higher education institutions.”