This month: Protect's 30 year conference, upcoming ESG training, SME Whistleblowing Scanner and more!👍customer
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March Newsletter
In a busy month, we welcome the long-awaited government review of the whistleblowing framework. First promised in the Anti-Corruption strategy of 2017, we’ve been pressing the government to carry out the review – and take action to update the UK’s whistleblowing law - for several years. We’ll be contributing our evidence of what works, and what needs to change to ensure the framework works as best as possible for organisations, whistleblowers and wider society.
Baroness Casey’s report on the Met Police makes it very clear that whistleblowers are not welcome in today’s MPS. The scale of the culture change challenge – to tackle institutionalised racism, misogyny and homophobia – is daunting. Those trying to speak up – including about misconduct - found that they were ignored, or worse discouraged from raising concerns by their managers, and many police officers and staff found that their whistleblowing led to retaliation. It is vital that every police force has effective whistleblowing arrangements in place to tackle misconduct and wrongdoing. Read Protect's full comment here.
Read our blog post about FCDO whistleblower, Josie Stewart, whose tribunal hearing is fast approaching. Josie found herself in an impossible situation, which led to her speaking up about the evacuation of Afghanistan, and calling for external regulators to handle civil servant complaints in a safe manner. The blog looks at the intricacies and hurdles faced by civil servants blowing the whistle. Speaking up inside government is not an easy task – and there is there is definitely room for improvement.
A date for your diary: Protect will be turning 30 years old this year, and to celebrate we will be hosting a day-long conference titled The Future of Whistleblowing, on Thursday 5 October to reflect on how far we’ve come and what the future holds. We have a great line up of speakers including the Business Minister, Lubna Shuja, Zelda Perkins, Helen Evans and some of the best whistleblowing legal minds.
Finally, the team at Protect completed 5k and 10k runs around Victoria Park on the 19th March, without too many injuries! We are very grateful to everyone that donated to and shared the event, and are pleased to report we reached our £2000 milestone. There is still time to contribute via our Just Giving page which will be live for another 2 weeks.
What's New?
SME Whistleblowing Scanner
Are you a small to medium sized organisation in need of setting up or revising your whistleblowing procedures? Protect's new whistleblowing scanner encourages all sized businesses to implement whistleblowing policy and procedure to protect both employers and employees at work.
Whistleblowing & ESG Masterclass
How can whistleblowing optimise your ESG strategy? What are your legal obligations as an organisation? Join our masterclass on the 26th April and begin building an effective, sustainable ESG strategy for you and your organisation.
How Can You Amend Your ET1?
Did you miss out crucial details or perhaps want to bring on an additional claim in your ET1? Our new web page will set out what you need to do and help you through the process of amending your ET1 – we also included a template.
March Highlights
GAIL 2023 Summit
Protect's Legal Director, Sybille Raphael, spoke at the Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers 2023 Summit. Environmental whistleblowers are integral to creating and maintaining working cultures that don't cause damage to the planet, and are considerate of their ESG responsibilities.
Sky News
What can the governments review mean for whistleblowing? Elizabeth discussed Protect's view with Ian King on Sky News days after the review was announced.
Whistleblowing International Network
The Whistleblowing International Network has launched its third podcast on national security whistleblowing - this time looking at Europe and Latin America
Civil Society
Protects CEO, Elizabeth Gardiner, looks at the importance of speaking up to stop harm in charities in her article, 'How whistleblowing policies can protect charities from fraud', for Civil Society.
Personnel Today
Sybille was quoted in Personnel Today on the topic of the government whistleblowing review.
“The UK can be proud of having led the way on whistleblowing protection, but our law was passed in 1998 and now needs updating.”
LBC News
Following the Met Police report released on the 21st March, Elizabeth was invited on LBC News to share her whistleblowing expertise with Jim Diamond.
HR Grapevine
Elizabeth comments on why employers should take whistleblowing seriously in HR Grapevine.
The legal challenges for FCDO whistleblower Josie Stewart and the case for whistleblowing reform in the civil service
Do you need advice on how to raise a concern in the safest and most effective way?
