August Newsletter

Dear ,

In this month’s edition,

One last push for whistleblowing protections
UK’s new fraud law – are you ready?
Whistleblowing news roundup for the month

Can you help us? Parliament returns in September and the landmark Employment Rights Bill will be heading back to the Commons shortly with new clause 29 “Regulations to protect whistleblowers.” Will the Government accept this modest, cross-party amendment when the Commons review the Lords amendments? With the right support, we may persuade them, so dear reader, please do write to your MP or use your social media networks to back the reform.

In our view the duty to investigate amendment marks a pivotal opportunity for the government to strengthen trust, fairness, and accountability in the workplace. At present, employers can simply ignore concerns leaving whistleblowers facing a wall of silence. We believe that by embedding a clear duty to investigate into law the government can ensure that every legitimate complaint is properly examined, rather than swept aside.

This change to the law would not only protect whistleblowers but also create a culture of transparency where organisations are encouraged to resolve issues swiftly and fairly. Employers benefit too – anyone involved in looking into whistleblowing concerns knows that early investigations help prevent harm including costly legal disputes, reputational damage, and regulatory breaches.

Accepting this duty would level up employment protections, close gaps in enforcement, and promote economic integrity. It’s a rare opportunity to update employment rights, and a real shame if the chance to bring whistleblowing protections into the 21st century was missed.

In other news there are changes here at Protect. I’m very pleased to say that I’m going to be sharing this wonderful job with Sybille Raphael and we will become Joint CEOs from 1st September. We hope this new leadership model will help us scale our impact, building on Protect’s strong foundations and allow us to bring complementary expertise to the role.

Elizabeth Gardiner, Chief Executive

UK’s new fraud law – are you ready?

From 1st September organisations can be held criminally liable if an employee, agent, subsidiary or other ‘associated person’ commits fraud that benefits the organisation. Crucially, neither a director nor a senior manager needs to have ordered, or even be aware, of the fraud for the organisation to be held responsible for failing to prevent it.

To avoid liability an organisation will need to show they had reasonable measures in place to tackle fraud.

Whistleblowing plays a crucial role in combatting fraud. For several years in a row, the ACFE’s “Report to the Nations” has published statistics showing that fraud is most often discovered through tip-offs, with 43% of cases in 2024 involving a whistleblower.

Strong whistleblowing systems form a vital part of the Home Office’s guidance, and as the UK’s leading whistleblowing charity, Protect is proud to have contributed setting out what strong, proactive steps that employers can take to develop their whistleblowing culture. Check out and download our top tips of what you can do to prepare and mitigate the risks surrounding the introduction of the new offence.

Dr Chris Day

Another blow for Dr Chris Day after the Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld the dismissal of his whistleblowing claim against Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, despite identifying some errors in the Employment Tribunal's findings. The case stems from Dr Day’s employment with the NHS Trust between 2013 and 2014 and his whistleblowing concerns regarding patient safety. In this latest legal development, the Appeal Tribunal found that the ET's errors were “immaterial” to the overall outcome. Though a disappointing result for Chris personally, his dedication and persistence has led to case law and precedents that has improved the protection for whistleblowers in the future. For fuller write-up of the ruling do check out the blog Westminster Confidential by former Guardian reporter, David Hencke, or for a more formal legal account, this summary shared by the Employment Lawyers Association.

Whistleblowing Framework

From identifying the people in the workplace who miss out on whistleblowing protections to praising the benefits of a robust whistleblowing culture, the Review of the Whistleblowing Framework recently published by the government provides a welcome step that identifies the issues and challenges that exist with the current systems.

Originally commissioned by the Sunak government in 2023, the review took into account voices and opinions from across the public, private, and non-profit sectors (including Protect), with a focus on improving transparency, accountability, and protections for those who report wrongdoing.

Our latest blog summarises the key findings and opportunities ahead.

Upcoming training!

Return from your summer holidays with something to look forward to. Book now for peace of mind and start the autumn with valuable training to support your approaches to managing whistleblowing.

Up next on the 11th Sept is our fundamental training - 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.
We will be hosting our Investigating a Whistleblowing Concern Training on the 18th September, another one of our CPD accredited core courses, which is perfect for those responsible for handling whistleblowing concerns. You’ll learn the do’s and don’ts of speaking to whistleblowers and dealing with their concerns effectively.
On the 25th September 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.

More info

Whistleblowing in the media this month

With many of us taking time out this month for the holidays, we’ve rounded up some key stories focused on whistleblowing for you to catch up on:

This extended report from The Guardian gives a full account of the UK arms deals with Saudi Arabia and the whistleblower who exposed the scandal. Ian Foxley’s tale starts in 2010 and is still ongoing. The story takes us from London to Riyadh and back again, via the Cayman Islands and Switzerland. The article goes into great depth to document how Ian blew the whistle and what happened afterwards. Next year a court will rule on the case. If Ian's claim against the Ministry of Defence isn't dismissed it will proceed to trial. He says he's accepted the prospect of this and believes it’s worth it. As he says in the Guardian story: “They shouldn’t get away with it, and they shouldn’t be allowed to think that they can do it again.”: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/07/long-read-british-bribery-britain-arms-deals-saudi-arabia-ian-foxley

A BBC investigation for the File on Four documentary series reports that the body running courts in England and Wales has been accused of a cover-up, after a leaked report found it took several years to react to an IT bug that caused evidence to go missing, be overwritten or appear lost. Sources within HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) say that as a result, judges in civil, family and tribunal courts will have made rulings on cases when evidence was incomplete: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwye2q00k51o

A fascinating listen - documenting the process of publishing the 'riveting exposé' of Elon Musk’s flagship company Tesla. The Guardian’s Today in Focus podcast tells the story of the whistleblowers who lifted the lid on the electric car giant’s factories and the safety record it tried to keep secret: https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2025/aug/04/the-tesla-whistleblower-and-the-cost-of-taking-on-elon-musk-podcast

And for those looking for their next binge-worthy series with a whistleblowing edge, look no further than the Belgian legal drama Pandora which made reference to the European Whistleblowing Directive in an episode in the second series – now streaming on Channel 4: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/pandora

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