5.8.9 Whistleblowing

Introduction
Aims and Scope of our Policy
Our Assurances to You
What is the Legal Background?
How should you raise a concern?
How will the City Council handle the matter?
Independent Advice
External Contacts
Corporate Recording and Monitoring
If you are dissatisfied

1. Introduction

All of us at one time or another have concerns about what is happening at work. Usually these concerns are easily resolved. However, when they are about unlawful conduct, financial malpractice or dangers to the public or the environment, it can be difficult to know what to do.

You may be worried about raising such issues or may want to keep the concerns to yourself, perhaps feeling it’s none of your business or that it’s only a suspicion. You may feel that raising the matter would be disloyal to colleagues, managers or to the organisation. You may decide to say something but find that you have spoken to the wrong person or raised the issue in the wrong way and are not sure what to do next.

Brighton & Hove City Council has introduced this policy to enable you to raise your concerns about such malpractice at an early stage and in the right way. We would rather that you raised the matter when it is just a concern rather than wait for proof.

If something is troubling you, which you think we should know about, or look into, please use this policy. If, however, you are aggrieved about your personal position or harassed, please use the Grievance Policy or Bullying & Harassment Policy- which you can get from your manager or HR Officer. This Whistleblowing Policy is primarily for concerns where the interests of others or of the organisation itself are at risk.

2. Aims and Scope of our Policy

This policy aims to provide avenues for you to raise concerns and receive feedback on any action taken. It allows you to go further if you are dissatisfied with the City Council’s response and to reassure you that you will be protected from reprisals or victimisation from Whistleblowing in good faith.

The policy is intended to help members of staff who have major concerns about wrong-doing within Brighton & Hove City Council relating to unlawful conduct, financial malpractice or dangers to the public or the environment. Specific examples could include:

a criminal offence (e.g. fraud, corruption or theft) has been/is likely to be committed;
a miscarriage of justice has been/is likely to occur;
the health and safety of any individual has been/is likely to be endangered;
the environment has been/is likely to be damaged;
public funds are being used in an unauthorised manner;
the City Council’s Constitution (including Standing Orders, Financial Regulations etc) has not been observed or is being breached by Members and/or staff;
to raise concern about misconduct of Members;
services falling below established standards or practice;
sexual or physical abuse of any member of staff or service recipient is taking place;
unlawful discrimination on the grounds of sex, race, disability, religion, sexual orientation or age in occurring to any members of staff or service recipient;
any other form of improper action or misconduct is taking place either by a member of staff or a Member;
information relating to any of the above is being deliberately concealed or attempts are being made to conceal the same; and
activities of contractors to the City Council.

If in doubt - raise it!

3. Our Assurances to You

The City Council is committed to this policy. If you raise a genuine concern under this policy, you will not be at risk of losing your job or suffering any form of retribution as a result provided that:

the disclosure is made in good faith, it does not matter if you are mistaken;
you reasonably believe that information, and any allegations contained in it, are substantially true; and
you raised your concerns through one of the channels named in this policy.

Of course we do not extend this assurance to someone who maliciously raises a matter they know is untrue.

The City Council will not tolerate the harassment or victimisation of anyone raising a genuine concern. However, we recognise that you may nonetheless want to raise a concern confidentially under this policy. If you ask us not to reveal your identity by keeping your confidence, we will not disclose it without your consent. If the situation arises where we are not able to resolve the concern without revealing your identity (for instance because your evidence is needed in court), we will discuss with you whether and how we can proceed.

Remember that if you do not tell us who you are, it will be much more difficult for us to look into the matter, protect your position or to give you feedback. Accordingly, while we will consider anonymous allegations this may hinder investigating appropriately.

4. What is the Legal Background?

The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 protects members of staff against the detrimental treatment or dismissal as a result of any disclosure of normally confidential information in the interests of the public. The Act only covers protected disclosures under six categories, namely; crime, illegality, miscarriage of justice, damage to health and safety, damage to the environment, and cover-ups about these issues.

To obtain protection members of staff must first disclose the information to the employer or to a body prescribed by the Secretary of State for the purposes of receiving such information. A list of the prescribed bodies is available on the government’s website, along with a useful guide on the Act.

The City Council has introduced this Whistleblowing Policy in line with the Act. For further information regarding the Act contact the Director of Strategy and Governance who is the City Council’s Monitoring Officer or the Head of Audit & Assurance.

5. How should you raise a concern?

As soon as you become reasonably concerned, we hope you will feel able to raise it first with your Line Manager.

If you feel unable to raise the matter with your Line Manager, for whatever reason, please raise the matter with:

Alex Bailey, Director of Strategy and Governance (The Monitoring Officer)
Ian Withers, Head of Audit & Assurance
Catherine Vaughan, Director of Finance & Property
Katie Ogden, Acting Head of Human Resources or
Relevant Chief Officer

These people will also be able to advise on confidentiality and further action required.

If these channels have been followed and you still have concerns, or if you feel that the matter is so serious that you cannot discuss it with any of the above, please contact:

Alan McCarthy, Chief Executive

Concerns may be raised orally or in writing. Members of staff who wish to raise concern in writing should use the following format:

the background and history of the concern (giving relevant dates)
the reason why they are particularly concerned about the situation.

When raising the concern it is acceptable for you to be assisted, or accompanied by either your trade union representative or a colleague who works for the City Council.

6. How will the City Council handle the matter?

If the concern is raised orally, the person receiving the information should put it in writing as soon as practicable to ensure that it properly reflects the concern raised. The employee must also indicate if the concern is to be treated in confidence. The person receiving the concern will ensure the Director of Strategy and Governance as the City Council’s Monitoring Officer, is provided with sufficient details to be aware of the concern raised.

Once you have told us of your concern, we will look into it to assess initially what action should be taken. This may involve an internal inquiry or a more formal investigation. We will tell you who is handling the matter, how you can contact them and whether your further assistance may be needed. If you request it, we will write to you summarising your concern(s) and setting out how we propose to handle it.

When you raise the concern(s) you may be asked how you think the matter might best be resolved. If you do have any personal interest in the matter, we do ask that you tell us at the outset. If your concerns would be more appropriately dealt with under another policy of the City Council (for example, the Anti Fraud & Corruption Policy, Grievance Policy or Bullying and Harassment at Work Policy), we will tell you.

While the purpose of this policy is to enable us to investigate possible malpractice and take appropriate steps to deal with it, we will give you as much feedback as we properly can. If requested, we will confirm our response to you in writing. Please note, however, that we may not be able to tell you the precise action we take where this would infringe a duty of confidence owed by us to someone else.

Concerns or allegations that fall within the scope of specific procedures (for example child protection) will normally be referred for consideration under the relevant procedure. Some concerns may be resolved by agreed action without the need for investigation. If urgent action is required, this will be taken before any investigation is conducted.

Where appropriate, the matters raised may:

be investigated by management, internal audit, the Monitoring Officer or through the disciplinary process;
be referred to the Police;
be referred to the external auditor; or
form the subject of an independent inquiry.

Usually within ten working days of the concern being raised, the person looking into the concern will write to you:

acknowledging that the concern has been raised;
indicating how the City Council propose to deal with the matter;
giving an estimate of how long it will take to provide a full response;
saying whether any initial enquiries have been made;
supplying information on support available to you; and
saying whether further investigations will take place and if not, why not.

Subject to any legal constraints, the relevant employee will normally be informed of the final outcome of any investigation.

7. Independent Advice

If you are unsure whether to use this policy or you want independent advice at any stage, you may contact:

if applicable, your relevant trade union lawyer;
professional associations;
the independent charity Public Concern at Work on 020 7404 6609. Their lawyers can give you free confidential advice at any stage about how to raise a concern about serious malpractice at work.

8. External Contacts

Whilst we hope this policy gives you the reassurance you need to raise such matters internally and in confidence, we recognise that there may be circumstances where it may be more appropriate for you to go to the Police or outside regulators (e.g. Audit Commission) and at times consult Public Concern at Work. Where you take the matter outside the City Council, you should ensure that no disclosure of confidential information takes place and should check with your responsible Human Resource Manager or Chief Officer, if unsure, as the Public Interest Disclosure Act does not provide blanket protection and could leave you vulnerable to disciplinary or other action, if you disclose confidential information in circumstances not covered by the Act.

9. Corporate Recording and Monitoring

Directorates of the City Council will ensure they have sufficient internal arrangements to address the requirements of the Policy and the Head of Human Resources should ensure that Human Resource Managers are sufficiently trained and developed to implement this Policy.

The Director of Strategy and Governance has responsibility for the maintenance and operation of this policy. This includes maintaining a record of concerns raised, the outcome and reporting as necessary to the Chief Executive and any relevant committee in a form that does not endanger your confidentiality.

The Monitoring Officer and Head of Human Resources so as to ensure its continuing effectiveness will review the Policy on an annual basis.

10. If you are dissatisfied

If you are unhappy with our response, remember you can go to the other levels and bodies detailed in this Policy.

While we cannot guarantee that we will respond to all matters in the way that you might wish, we will try to handle the matter fairly and properly. By using this policy, you will help us to achieve this.

End