February Newsletter

Dear ,

In this month’s edition 

• Launch of ground-breaking research exposing the Cost of Whistleblowing Failures to the public purse 

• Landmark ruling for whistleblowing in the civil service 

• Legal challenge to give all job applicants whistleblowing protections 

This month we launched our latest research report – "The Cost of Whistleblowing: Assessing the cost of whistleblowing failures to the public purse". The event, hosted by Lord Wills at the House of Lords, included speakers Joe Powell MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Anti-Corruption and Responsible Taxation, and Mark Baker of the Communication Workers Union. Phil Brickell MP has subsequently written to the government to ask whether it has plans to publish a whistleblower strategy. He stressed that the lack of a comprehensive framework could deter individuals from speaking out, undermining efforts to combat corruption and malpractice.  

The launch was a great opportunity to explain the impact on the taxpayer when avoidable harms raised by whistleblowers are ignored, and to promote our reform proposals including a duty on employers to investigate whistleblowing concerns. This remains our key policy call, and we are continuing to work with MPs in this area, using the Employment Rights Bill as a vehicle for change. 

Last week I was at the Court of Appeal as we were intervening in an important case about whether external job applicants should have the protection of whistleblowing legislation. Many callers to our advice line highlight the effective “blacklisting” they face after whistleblowing, unable to work again in their chosen industry or profession. We were lucky to have the pro bono support of brilliant solicitors at Farrers & Co and Counsel from Matrix Chambers presenting our case. 

In a judgment that has repercussions for the civil service at large, the Employment Tribunal has ruled that it can be lawful for a civil servant to share unauthorised information directly with the media. In the first case of its kind, Josie Stewart, the former Foreign Office whistleblower, won a case for whistleblower detriment and unfair dismissal over her disclosures to the BBC about the UK evacuation from Afghanistan.  

We need whistleblowers to raise matters in the public interest and this case is significant in finding that a civil servant was justified in blowing the whistle to the press, when internal options were not open to her. Josie Stewart is now backing our call for an independent statutory commissioner for whistleblowing, a point we’ll be raising in the forthcoming “Hillsborough Bill” in the months ahead. 

Elizabeth Gardiner, Chief Executive 

Protect in the news

• The launch of our Cost of Whistleblowing Failures report was picked up in the Times, Telegraph and Civil Service World among many others. 

• Writing for Prospect magazine, John Bowers KC of Littleton Chambers and Protect Advisory Council member said, "there needs to be a duty placed on employers to investigate whistleblowing concerns ... This is vital to closing the accountability gap." 

• Our appearance at the Court of Appeal was covered by Personnel Today, the Solicitors Journal and others with People Management examining the potential implications on employers of enhanced protections for candidates.  

• BBC News quoted Protect in their coverage of Josie Stewart’s tribunal judgment, with Matthew Weaver at the Guardian linking through to our press statement and call for an independent statutory commissioner for whistleblowing. 

• As allegations against Gino D’Acampo continue to dominate headlines, People Management looked at how employers can ensure staff feel comfortable speaking up quoting our Director of Policy, Andrew Pepper-Parsons 

Policy update

As part of our campaign to introduce a new Duty to Investigate whistleblowing concerns for employers the Labour MP Alex Sobel and former professional cricketer Azeem Rafiq, who blew the whistle on institutional racism at Yorkshire County Cricket Club, have written a joint article pressing for change. 

In their jointly-penned editorial for Politics Home the pair stress that at present, there are only after-the-event remedies for whistleblowers who are harmed, providing no help or guidance on how an employer should respond when a complaint is made. Citing evidence from our legal advice line and the Association of Fraud Examiners they make the case that whistleblowing is good for business and that the Employment Rights Bill, making its way through the House of Commons, is the best chance we have to overhaul how employers and colleagues treat both whistleblowers and the complaints themselves. 

Creative industries

New guidelines have been issued this week for the UK’s creative industries following the Gregg Wallace and Gino d’Acampo scandals, and bullying allegations on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing. The Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) has set new standards with the aim of stamping out bullying, harassment and discrimination, and address “power imbalances”.  

As production companies work with so many changing teams and staff members we believe these guidelines need to be incorporated into inductions and treated the same as legally required training such as health and safety briefings. Too many employers wait for a scandal before acting, when taking complaints seriously at an early stage could avert both harm and reputational damage. 

CIISA doesn’t have any enforcement powers itself, so it is counting on the creative industries to adhere to the standards. But any infringements can be reported directly and it will provide support for individuals who want to press criminal charges or take their concerns to employment tribunals where appropriate. 

Institute for Government Duty of Candour Event 

How to legislate for the duty of candour? That was the question posed at the recent Institute for Government event – featuring Protect’s chief executive Liz Gardiner –   exploring the opportunities and considerations regarding the introduction of the proposed Hillsborough Law.  

Keir Starmer has promised to introduce legislation to Parliament before this April’s anniversary of the football stadium disaster that would extend a statutory duty of candour to public authorities and officials. But how widely will the duty be applied? And how can it work alongside other statutory duties? And the Civil Service Code?  

This lively hybrid event discussed the lessons learned from the legal duty of candour that has existed, with mixed effect, in the NHS and plotted out the broader cultural changes that will be needed for the legislation to work. 

You can watch a video of the livestream here.

Events updates  

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our most recent events: our Fraud & whistleblowing webinar and Breakfast Briefing “Top Ten Things Charities Get Wrong in Whistleblowing”. It was great to meet with so many people passionate about getting whistleblowing right in their organisations. A special thanks to Elizabeth Wilks-Wood, the Chief Compliance Officer at Haleon for sharing her insights on implementing fraud prevention strategies, and the Bates Wells team for co-hosting the Breakfast Briefing with us. 

Upcoming training! 

• On the 5th March we have Whistleblowing Essentials. A staple in getting to grips with the fundamentals of instilling a successful speak up culture.
• On the 20th March we are running our Preventing Victimisation masterclass. Wrongdoing will continue if staff feel unsafe to report concerns to their managers, so equip yourself with the best practises to support your staff speaking up.

• And then 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.

Cases of the year

2024 proved to be another significant year in the world of whistleblowing with a host of significant cases that have impacted the legal landscape. From a threat to the established “injuries to feelings” compensation to a landmark ruling that could lead to extending whistleblowing protections to charity trustees in the UK last year presented a number of pivotal cases. We’ve done the hard work for you providing handy summaries and our analysis – check out our webpage for the full details. 

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