March Newsletter

Dear ,

In this month’s edition,

Demand for Protect’s legal advice continues to rise
New report exposes the impact of failing to listen to and act on whistleblowing concerns

I’m starting this month’s update with the news that Protect has been named 'The Employment Team' of the year at the recent LexisNexis UK Awards. I am incredibly proud of the team – their dedication, resilience and creativity – and we are honoured that this has been recognised by such a prestigious award.

This month we released our annual Impact Report charting the difference we’re making and how we’re fulfilling our mission. 2024 was another very busy year for calls to our advice line with 10% more new cases than 2023. As our win at the Lexis Nexis awards testifies, the team went above and beyond to meet the challenges – from delivering compassionate and practical legal advice, to training employers in whistleblowing best practice and stepping up to intervene in legal cases of strategic importance. However, our figures for 2024 sadly show no change to the levels of victimisation that whistleblowers face.

2 in 5 of callers (40%) told us their whistleblowing concerns had been ignored by their employer
and more than two thirds (68%) said they faced victimisation or felt forced to resign.

Our legal reform campaign is aiming to tackle some of these injustices and we’re pulling all the levers we can to improve whistleblowing law for all.

This week saw the publication of the Committee on Standards in Public Life’s new report, “Recognising and Responding to Early Warning Signs in Public Sector Bodies” which refers extensively to the role of whistleblowers in holding public sector organisations to account. It identifies failure to listen and act on concerns and a failure to investigate as common themes from recent public inquiries. It includes a helpful set of questions to help public sector leaders address problems at an early stage, and an endorsement of Protect’s benchmark tool.

Elizabeth Gardiner, Chief Executive

Protect in the news

Following the launch of our Cost of Whistleblowing Failures report last month our Legal Director, Sybille Raphael, was invited onto the Daily Mail’s The Trial+ podcast for a special episode titled The Price of Ignoring Whistleblowers. Focusing on the crimes of Lucy Letby, there was also print coverage in the newspaper.
With the in-coming Duty of Candour we were approached to write a piece for Civil Service World to outline how ministers can ensure the new legislation for public servants will be effective.

Policy update

Our amendment on the duty to investigate whistleblower concerns was raised during the Report Stage of the Employment Rights Bill by Labour MP Alex Sobel who stated that “The status quo provides only an after-the-event remedy for whistleblowers, and this new clause would ensure that there are channels for whistleblowers from the start.”

We were pleased to hear the Minister acknowledge that he had “begun to consider” changing whistleblowing law “as that legislation is now a quarter of a century old and needs looking at in the light of experiences in a number of the scandals that have been mentioned. We are considering where we go next on whistleblowing legislation”. The Bill now goes to the House of Lords where it has its Second Reading on 27 March. Read our blog for further analysis.

Also this month we secured support from a group of leading whistleblowing and anti-corruption organisations who have back our call to put employers under a legal duty to investigate whistleblowing concerns. Coming together to sign a letter of support the organisations include Transparency International UK, the Whistleblowing International Network and Spotlight on Corruption. The latter reiterates that the EU, Japan and the United Arab Emirates all enforce whistleblowing systems, and Britain must follow suit.

FCA Ruling

A ruling by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has sent shockwaves through the city this month by fining the hedge fund manager Crispin Odey £1.8million and provisionally banning him from working in the UK financial services industry. The financial regulator said Mr Odey had shown “reckless disregard” for the governance of his hedge fund and deliberately attempted to “frustrate” a disciplinary process into sexual harassment allegations. Mr Odey, who founded the now defunct hedge fund Odey Asset Management (OAM), is challenging the FCA's decision, which is provisional. The misconduct allegations - denied by Mr Odey - were first reported in the Financial Times, which shared claims from 13 women over 25 year period. Mr Odey has issued libel proceedings against the paper.

Strengthening protection against workplace sexual harassment has been a longstanding focus on the UK’s political agenda. The Worker Protection Act introduced last year provided a boost and now whistleblowing law will be sharpened through the new Employment Rights Bill. If this is an area you need support, reach out a member of our team.

Upcoming training!

Up next on the 8th May we are running our one-day in-person training providing a full overview of whistleblowing in the workplace. The training covers best approaches to managing whistleblowers and you'll also have the opportunity to audit your own whistleblowing policy against best practice and review your whistleblowing setup in a confidential and supportive space.
Following this we will be hosting our Whistleblowing Responsibilities as a Trustee, NED or Governor training on the 21st May. Did you know that NEDs, Trustees and Governors could risk regulatory action for failing to speak about incidents of wrongdoing or even personal liability? Our training will confirm and elevate your understanding of your role in an organisation and what whistleblowing responsibilities you hold.
Our fundamental training is the Whistleblowing Essentials session. Immersing you in practical exercises and case studies, you’ll gain the hands-on experience necessary to implement best practices from day one.. Sign up for the 12th June.

More info

From toxic work culture to an entire toxic town

Every scandal comes to light, in the wake of ITV's Mr Bates vs The Post Office, whistleblowing scandals are now taking centre stage on TV with New Netflix series ‘Toxic Town’, starring Aimee Lou Wood (Sex Education and The White Lotus), and Doctor Who’s Jodie Whittaker. The show has been labelled the UK’s Erin Brockovich, as a group of women take on their local council and the local steelworks following a pattern of birth defects in young children that whistleblowers were able to prove could have been avoided.