Issue - meetings
Whistleblowing – New policy and processes
Meeting: 16/11/2017 - Audit Committee (Item 4)
4 Whistleblowing – New policy and processes PDF 94 KB
Additional documents:
- Enc. 1 for Whistleblowing – New policy and processes, item 4 PDF 277 KB
- Enc. 2 for Whistleblowing – New policy and processes, item 4 PDF 276 KB
- Enc. 3 for Whistleblowing – New policy and processes, item 4 PDF 261 KB
- Enc. 4 for Whistleblowing – New policy and processes, item 4 PDF 253 KB
- Enc. 5 for Whistleblowing – New policy and processes, item 4 PDF 221 KB
- Enc. 6 for Whistleblowing – New policy and processes, item 4 PDF 59 KB
Minutes:
Asmat Hussain, Corporate Director for Governance and Monitoring Officer accompanied by Mr Paul Greeno, Senior Corporate and Governance Lawyer and Holly Bell, Trainee Solicitor presented the Whistleblowing report.
Ms Bell explained that following a review undertaken by Grant Thornton UK LLP the Council had revised its whistleblowing policy and procedure. She asked Members to note the appendices which provided guidance for Managers and Investigators as well as the e-learning module, which members of staff will need to complete.
Ms Bell referred Members to point 3.10 in the report which provided statistical information on the number of Whistleblowing cases dealt with. Of the 105 concerns only 37 had fallen within the framework of the Whistleblowing policy, with 25 cases being investigated and closed and 12 outstanding.
Members of the Committee asked the following questions:
· As the Monitoring Officer, are you confident all concerns raised under whistle blowing are accurately recorded and investigated?
· Page 21, point 3.10 refers to the statistics. Is this benchmarked with other local Authorities?
· Often whistle blowers are scared of reporting incidents. How do we ensure they are protected?
· Need to ensure the whistleblowing policy is promoted throughout the Council. Page 33 makes reference to Councillors and states they can “report and pursue concerns reasonably believed to be in the public interest”. This sentence needs to be clearer as some Members may raise a whistleblowing case via a member enquiry.
· Who does the whistleblowing policy cover? Are sub-contractors and agency staff also included?
o ACTION: Members AGREED to receive a quarterly update report on whistleblowing with anonymised case studies showing the types and nature of whistleblowing cases dealt with.
The Committee AGREED the recommendations in the report and NOTED:
1. The revised Whistleblowing Policy, Procedure, Guidance for Managers and Guidance for Investigators at Appendices 1 to 4;
2. The proposed E-learning module at Appendix 5;
3. The Council’s proposed Action Plan for the implementation of a more effective whistleblowing framework and Appendix 6; and
4. That the Audit Committee will be the responsible committee for the oversight of Whistleblowing and will be asked to assess the effectiveness of the Policy as well as monitoring the implementation of the policy.