1.4.2 Whistle-blowing Procedure

Introduction
Underlying Principles
First Steps
Reporting Your Concerns
Assurances
False and Malicious Allegations
The Investigation
Links With Other Council Procedures
After the Investigation is Completed
Support
Registration of Concerns

1. Introduction

This policy is designed to encourage you to report any major concern about bad practice that breach the Council’s Official Code of Conduct but have not been discovered.

Here are some examples of bad practice:

Abuse of service users
Using Council funds or property irresponsibly or unlawfully
Putting private or personal interests before the interests of the Council or the public it serves
Possible corruption
Falsely claiming housing benefit
Dangerous procedures risking health and safety
Avoiding legal responsibilities
Damage to the environment
Any action against the Council’s contracts procedure and rules or financial regulations
Any action which falls below established standards or practices

The main concern is that it would be better for everyone if the bad practice were stopped. Your overriding concern should be that it would be better for the bad practice to be corrected and, if appropriate, the staff concerned should be disciplined.

If at any time you feel uncomfortable about something you find yourself involved in or see happening in the workplace you must not ignore it. Managers do not always know about problems so if you find yourself asking, “Can this be right?” this should be the trigger for you to talk to someone.

2. Underlying Principles

We want to work in a culture where the emphasis is on good practice rather than one where the emphasis is on looking for examples of bad practice, but this does not mean that bad practice should be ignored.
People who raise concerns about conduct at work will be safeguarded and every effort will be made to respect confidentiality.
No employee who expresses their views in good faith and in line with this guidance will be punished for doing so, and will be supported by the Council.
If you raise a concern in good faith, but it is not confirmed by the investigation, no action will be taken against you. You will not get into trouble for being concerned about something at work.
The Council will not tolerate victimisation or harassment against those who report their genuine concerns about possible bad practice or wrongdoing. This includes any attempt to stop a person raising concerns.
This procedure applies to all staff, at all levels.
Staff making the complaint and those who are implicated are entitled to a fair hearing and support throughout what is recognised as a distressing experience.
Disciplinary action may be taken against you if you contact the media (newspaper, television, radio) with concerns about Council work without having first followed the steps outlined here.

3. First Steps

Decide what is worrying you and making you feel uncomfortable. Act early – do not wait until something becomes a major problem. What might happen if you do not act? Many matters can most appropriately be raised under the Council’s arrangements for management supervision, or else are covered by procedures such as capability, grievance and disciplinary procedures.
Talk about you concerns with someone you can trust, inside or outside the Group, who can look at the situation objectively.
Where possible, make notes of what you have heard, seen or feel. Date your notes and keep copies of all relevant information. This will help you report the problem.
If you are a member of a professional organisation or union, you can ask them for help or support.
It is not your responsibility to investigate wrongdoing – there are Council employees with specialist skills who are responsible for doing this. But it is your responsibility to raise the concern.

4. Reporting Your Concerns

Concerns can be raised through the following routes:

1. Internal Disclosure

A disclosure to a manager or the employer (as defined below)

If your manager is involved in any way, raise your concerns with your manager’s manager or the Groups’ complaints officer or the Council’s Financial Performance Division.

Alternatively report your concerns to a senior officer of the Council – i.e. the Chief Executive, the Council’s Monitoring Officer, the Director of Resources, the Assistant Director of Resources (Financial Performance) or your Group’s representative in Human Resources.

A disclosure will be protected if you have an honest and reasonable suspicion that a bad practice has occurred, is occurring or is likely to occur.

2. Regulatory Disclosures

There is special provision for disclosure to prescribed bodies. The bodies on the prescribed list likely to be most relevant are:

Health and Safety Executive
Environment Agency
Inland Revenue/Customs & Excise
Audit Commission
Data Protection Registrar
The Standards Board for England

Such disclosures will be protected if you have referred the matter through the internal disclosure route and, additionally, honestly and reasonably believe that the information and allegation are substantially true but have not been properly dealt with.

3. Wider Disclosure

Wider disclosures (that is, to the Police, media, MP’s and non-prescribed regulators) are protected if, in addition to the tests for regulatory disclosures, they are reasonable in all the circumstances and they are not made for personal gain.

5. Assurances

The Council will ensure that:

Your concerns will be treated seriously and sensitively.
If you ask for anonymity, the Council will make every effort to meet that request. However, this might not always be possible.
The investigation will be carried out within the usual bounds of confidentiality. This means that others may have to be informed but you will be told who those people are. As this procedure covers such a wide range of matters, it is not possible to lay down timescales for the completion of the investigation, as each one will be different. However you will be told the overall timescales and will be told of progress. It is expected that any investigation will be completed in one month.
The Council will take seriously and act upon the harassment of any staff member raising concerns. This will not be tolerated.
If disciplinary action is taken on something you have raised, either alone or with others, this will be as a result of a management decision. Your responsibility is to share concerns, and if you do not do so, the chances are that the service user will continue to be treated badly, or the other bad practices will continue. In the long term, your action should result in positive change.

6. False and Malicious Allegations

However the Council will view very seriously anyone who knowingly makes false and malicious allegations and will take disciplinary action against them.

7. The Investigation

The investigation will be carried out as speedily as possible within a timescale that should be kept to unless there are exceptional circumstances. Those involved will be told what the timetable is, but it is expected that it will be one month in line with the Council’s own Complaints Procedure.

The First Meeting

A meeting will be arranged between you, as the employee raising the concerns, and an Investigating officer (who may be part of management, internal audit, a Stage 3 Complaints officer or, in very rare cases, an independent person).

You may bring a friend or union representative or supporter along with you to this meeting. The friend must observe confidentiality in the usual way.
During the interview, you will be told about the next stage and whether or not any more is expected of you.
You will be given information about your rights, safeguards and access to staff support. You must be ready at this meeting to hand over any written information you have to support your concerns.
The person receiving the information will be responsible for ensuring that the concerns are brought to the attention of the appropriate people.
You should be expected to be questioned in detail about the allegation. It is important that the facts are established and as much evidence is obtained as possible. The information you provide could result in significant resources allocated to investigate your allegation. By giving as much information as possible, you will help ensure that those resources are used efficiently.
It would be helpful if your concerns could be recorded in writing and handed over at this first meeting. It is very important that you do this, so that the investigating officer has a clear and detailed account (so far as is possible) of your concerns. This document will remain confidential between you and the person(s) responsible for the investigation. However, during the investigation itself, its contents are likely to have been discussed with persons being interviewed.
At this stage you will be given an outline of the initial steps that will be taken to investigate your allegations and a possible timescale for feedback. If there are concerns that this allegation should be followed through a more appropriate route you will be advised of this and you will be assisted in making you referral to the most appropriate route.

After the Meeting

Your concerns will be dealt with promptly and constructively to protect your needs. Where practicable, immediate steps will be taken to remedy the situation. However, the final outcome might take more time.

You will be told the outcome of any investigation when it is known. You will be told whether any action is going to be taken, but the information may not include the details of what may happen to another employee, because this will be personal to him or her. Where necessary, the disciplinary procedure can be used in response to substantiated complaints.

If you are not happy with the outcome of any investigation you may raise your concerns with the Council’s Monitoring Officer. You should do this within 5 working days of the outcome.

8. Links With Other Council Procedures

This procedure does not replace the Councils’ Grievance and Anti-Harassment Procedures, which are intended to address matters relating to an individual’s employment and the personal conduct of staff towards each other. That said, it is possible that some matters identified by staff within the context of raising concerns about bad practices will more appropriately be dealt with under the Councils’ Grievance and Anti-Harassment Procedures. If this is the case, you will be advised of how the matter will be proceeded with after the initial meeting has taken place.

9. After the Investigation is Completed

Steps will be taken to ensure everyone involves returns smoothly to normal working. These steps should include counselling and team building. Where necessary, outside help will be provided for any team building that is required or for individual counselling or support. The Council appreciates that support mechanisms are vital at all stages of this procedure.

10. Support

Everyone involved in raising concerns is entitled to support. Your union or professional body can support you, or a colleague, or the Counselling Scheme provided by the Occupational Health Service.

11. Registration of Concerns

At the end of the procedure, the manager or person investigating the concern has a responsibility to register the nature of the concern and make a record of the outcome in a register held centrally. The purpose of this record is to ensure that a central record is kept which can be cross-referenced with complaints or representations from users in order to monitor any common patterns. The Director of Resources will report annually on these concerns to the Audit Committee.

End