Agenda item

The Committee considered a report on the proposed revision of the Council’s Whistleblowing Policy, which had been reviewed previously in 2017 and was therefore long overdue a review and update.  The Committee noted that the aim of the Whistleblowing Policy was to:

·      Encourage staff to report suspected wrongdoing as soon as possible, in the knowledge that their concerns would be taken seriously and investigated as appropriate, and that their confidentiality would be respected as far as possible;

·      Encourage and enable staff to raise concerns within the Council rather than ignoring a problem or blowing the whistle externally without exhausting internal procedures;

·      Provide staff with guidance as to how to raise those concerns;

·      Reassure staff that they should be able to raise genuine concerns without fear of reprisals, victimisation, subsequent discrimination, disadvantage, or dismissal, even if they turned out to be mistaken, provided the disclosure was made in the public interest.

The Council was committed to conducting business with honesty and integrity and expected all staff to maintain high standards of conduct.  Staff were often the first to realise that there might be something seriously wrong within an organisation. Whistleblowing was viewed by the Council as a positive act that could make a valuable contribution to the Council’s efficiency and long-term success.

The Committee acknowledged that the Whistleblowing Policy should be regularly reviewed, at least biennially, or more frequently where there were changes to legislation or statutory guidance, or learning from its operation that should be taken into account.  The Committee was informed that it was proposed that Guildford Borough Council and Waverley Borough Council attempt to align their respective Whistleblowing Policies as far as it was appropriate to do so, whilst accepting there might be local differences. Proposals similar to those contained in the report were due to be considered at Waverley Borough Council shortly.

During the debate, the following points were raised:

·      The importance of ensuring that:

(a)  whistleblowing was embedded in the culture of the organisation, 

(b)  statistics on instances of whistleblowing were collated and reported, and

(c)   external bodies with whom the Council contracts its services also have robust whistleblowing policies.

·      It was noted that the terms of reference for this Committee included consideration of a report, at least annually, on whistleblowing, although the Monitoring Officer was minded to bring reports to the Committee on the outcome of whistleblowing investigations as and when necessary.

·      In response to a request to identify the key differences between the current 2017 Whistleblowing Policy and the proposed policy, the Monitoring Officer reported that although there had been no change to the legislation that underpinned whistleblowing, the revised policy had been strengthened significantly, for example, by widening the group of people who were encouraged to be able to whistleblow under the policy, and encouraging people to use the internal process first, rather than going direct to the media or an external organisation.

·      It was suggested that authority be delegated to the Monitoring Officer to make minor or consequential administrative amendments to the policy to reflect, for example, any future change in external auditors or legislation regarding whistleblowing.

Having considered the report, the Committee

RESOLVED:  That the following feedback be provided to the Executive when it considers this matter at its meeting on 25 January 2024:

(1)  That this Committee commends the adoption of the revised Whistleblowing Policy, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report submitted to the Committee, subject to the following amendments:

(a)  in the third paragraph of Section 1.0 (Purpose), substitute “Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998” in place of “Public Disclosure Act 1998”; and

(b)  the omission of the final paragraph of Section 16 (External Disclosures) as it is factually inaccurate.

(2)  That authority be delegated to the Monitoring Officer to make such minor amendments to the Whistleblowing Policy as they deem appropriate for the purpose of keeping it up to date.

Reasons:

·      It is right and proper to uphold the principles of transparency to encourage individuals to make any disclosures and raise any concerns where they suspect wrongdoing.

·      It is important that the Council has a Policy in place to govern such disclosures and that such Policy is kept under regular review.

·      Whilst the adoption of the Policy is within the remit of the Executive, as this Committee has a role in monitoring the operation of the Policy, there was merit in the Committee having the opportunity to consider any proposed revisions to the Policy and being able to provide feedback by way of consultation to the Executive.