Agenda item

The Committee considered a report (Agenda Item 4) concerning approval of a revised Whistleblowing Policy and underpinning procedure. Jane Milone in introducing the item explained that the Council had an existing Confidential Reporting Code in place since 2006. The existing policy provided protection to employees provided that they made disclosures in ‘good faith’.

Recent changes to legislation (the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013) had prompted a revision of the policy and Officers had used the opportunity to ensure that the policy was easier to understand and included a clearer description of how a complaint would be handled. The Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA) permitted employees to raise concerns where they had a reasonable belief that:

1.    a criminal offence;

2.    a miscarriage of justice;

3.    an act creating a risk to health and safety;

4.    a breach of other legal obligation;

5.    damage to the environment;

6.    Concealment of any of the above.

had been or was likely to be committed without fear of dismissal, victimisation or detriment and it was in the public interest to disclose it.

Jane Milone explained that Councillor Alan Law (the Portfolio Holder for HR) had queried why ‘gross negligence’ was not included as one of the criteria. Officers had sought legal advice and it had been agreed that the policy should adhere to the legal parameters of the Act since the Council would open itself to a challenge via Judicial Review if it attempted to go beyond those limits.  Protected disclosures relating to cases where "a person has failed, is failing or is likely to fail to comply with a legal obligation to which he or she is subject" would be expected to cover incidents of gross negligence. The article in ‘Reporter’ could also be used to provide examples of various scenarios and provide an explanation to managers as to how they could deal with these instances by referring them to the guidance.

A helpline had also been introduced that employees could use if they were unsure whether to raise a concern or not and it also provided a confidential way to raise concerns. The help line went through to the Head of Human Resources (HR). Officers confirmed that this was not a direct line to the Head of HR but that HR team members were used to dealing with confidential issues. Jane Milone reminded Members that employees would be encouraged to put their name to their allegation as anonymous complains were harder to investigate (see paragraph 4.4 of the Policy and Procedure). The policy was also designed to give protection to employees raising concerns. Potential complaints about the Head of HR would need to be dealt with using the procedures set out in the guidance.

Councillor Tony Linden arrived at 11.13am.

Councillor Mollie Lock queried what training would be given to managers having to deal with a whistleblowing incident. The Committee therefore requested that training be provided as part of the Leadership Development Training that was about to be introduced and that the issue should be raised at the next Corporate Management Team (CMT) meeting.

Councillor Tony Linden queried how incidents would be reported back to Members. Officers explained that this would be evaluated on a case by case basis and where appropriate Senior Officers would discuss issues with relevant Members if needed.

RESOLVED that:

1.    Training on the Whistleblowing Policy and Procedure to be included in the Leadership Development Training programme;

2.    The Whistleblowing Policy and Procedure to be raised at the next CMT meeting;

3.    An article on the Whistleblowing Policy and Procedure to be included in the next iteration of ‘Reporter’;

4.    The Whistleblowing Policy and Procedure be approved.