Current legislation ‘not working’, commission concludes
A new code of practice around whistleblowing should be adopted in the UK, a report from the Whistleblowing Commission has urged.
The commission’s in-depth review of whistleblowing polices and practices, published today, has made a series of recommendations for strengthening the whistleblowing framework in the UK.
The report concluded that current legislation is “not working”, and that immediate change was needed to ensure whistleblowers were given the confidence to speak out without fear of adverse repercussions.
It called for a fresh code of practice to be adopted in all UK workplaces and to be taken into account by courts and tribunals dealing with whistleblowing cases.
The code should be made a requirement by industry regulators, said the commission, and would involve greater oversight by non-executive directors and stipulate that whistleblowing reviews be included in the annual reports of listed companies.
The suggested code would also contain practical guidance for employers, workers and their representatives around raising, handling, training and reviewing whistleblowing in the workplace.
The Whistleblowing Commission was set up by the charity Public Concern at Work, which said that the review was vital given recent scandals such as Mid-Staffordshire in the NHS, blacklisting in construction and Libor rate rigging in banking.
“Up until now whistleblowing has not been handled well by regulators,” explained Cathy James, CEO of Public Concern at Work. “The lessons have still not been learnt and the government needs to act to ensure that we do not repeat the scandals and tragedies which have plagued us over the last few years.
“The code of practice provides a set of standards against which organisations can be measured,” she continued. “Regulators need to enforce this code and, if necessary, be given the power to do so.”
The report also called for the simplification of the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA), which was introduced 15 years ago to provide a remedy for workers who are victimised or dismissed for blowing the whistle.
The review suggested legal reforms to the Act to strengthen anti-gagging provisions, and to extend the scope of workers protected to include student nurses, doctors and social workers.
Trade unions welcomed the report’s recommendations. TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Whistleblowing is an important way to root out malpractice and wrongdoing in a workplace.
“It’s important that we have stronger legal protections and written workplace procedures for whistleblowers to underpin the important work that union reps do in supporting workers who speak out.”
The Whistleblowing Commission was chaired by former Court of Appeal judge Sir Anthony Hooper, and was comprised of an independent group of business figures and academic experts. Members included the former CEO of Olympus, Michael Woodford, who famously blew the whistle on corporate fraud in his organisation.
Changes made in June to the UK’s whistleblowing regulations mean that employers now have a legal responsibility to actively protect whistleblowers against detrimental treatment and bullying by colleagues or management. But would-be whistleblowers must also reasonably believe that any disclosure they make is “in the public interest”.