Whistleblowing

The Law on Whistleblowing

The Council’s policy takes account of relevant Employment law (in the form of the Employment Rights Act 1996, as amended by the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998).

The law provides protection for an employee against any retaliation by their employer as a result of reporting a concern, if the employee has a reasonable belief that it is in the public interest to do so (known as the “public interest test”). This is known as making a “protected disclosure”.

A “protected disclosure” is one which alleges:

• that a criminal offence has been, is being or is likely to be committed;
• that a person has failed, is failing or is likely to fail to comply with any legal obligation to which he is subject;
• that a miscarriage of justice has occurred, is occurring or is likely to occur,
• that the health or safety of any individual has been, is being or is likely to be endangered;
• that the environment has been, is being or is likely to be damaged; or
• that information tending to show any matter falling within any one of the preceding paragraphs has been, is being or is likely to be deliberately concealed.

Whistleblowers who are not either Councillors or employees of the Council, are not directly subject to these legal protections (because the Council is not their employer so does not have the same employment duties to them). However, as a matter of good practice the Council makes available the same reporting routes so that it can be made aware of public interest matters that may affect it.

Financial issues are covered by Section 151 Local Government Act 1972, Section 114 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988, The Local Government and Housing Act 1989, and Accounts and Audit Regulations 2003 (as amended).

Sexual Harassment and Whistleblowing

The Council takes sexual harassment at work extremely seriously. Incidents of sexual harassment can be raised via the Council’s Grievance Policy.

However, it may be appropriate to whistleblow on sexual harassment where the public interest test is met. This may be where:

• you reasonably believe that you are not the only person impacted by or at risk of the harassment;
• there are a number of other people who have also been sexually harassed;
• you are not directly impacted by the sexual harassment but you are a witness to it, or
• there is a culture or environment where sexual harassment occurs and is permitted in the workplace. This suggests that there could be a wider public interest issue, which may be missed in a grievance process.

You may also be able to demonstrate a public interest for whistleblowing if the harassment is very serious, criminal, or the harasser is a senior, powerful or very influential person.