A safer mechanism for reporting Edinburgh Council mismanagement - Petitions (Closed)

Petition details

I ask the Council to implement a whistleblowing hotline for Council staff with an organisation that exists outside the Council, to which only senior Councillors would have access. An independent body such as Expolink or the Edinburgh Voluntary Organisation Council (EVOC) should run the hotline and every Council worker should learn about it as part of their induction training.
The hotline should:
i) Be completely inaccessible to Council staff apart from when a suggestion or complaint was lodged
ii) Allow the staff complainant’s name to be withheld by the body should they need to investigate any matter with relevant Council staff, but that the body might make the name available to elected members on condition of confidentiality
iii) Be resourced by the Council through a revenue grant sufficient to administer the scheme.
iv) Act as a deterrent against inappropriate and criminal behaviour by Council staff; giving elected members the information they need to take rapid, remedial action.

The hotline could contribute to the re-building of confidence between Cllrs, ordinary staff and the rate-paying public after the property conservation and Mortonhall scandals, and help dissipate a culture of fear in speaking out at the Council- about either malpractice or the unintended consequences of Council management decisions.

I believe that it would be to the clear advantage of the Council to have an improved whistleblowing system in place, which would assist both Councillors and employees to avoid future scandals that would bring the Council into disrepute.

Petition Status

Closed

Name of petitioner

Peter Gregson

Opening date

07/01/2013

Closing date

22/01/2013

Total signatories

515

Petition Outcome

The Petitions Committee on 18 April 2013 agreed:1) To ask the Director of Corporate Governance, in consultation with the Corporate Management Team, to note the terms of this petition in final consideration of the draft policy on this subject;2) To note that the policy would be considered by the Corporate Policy and Strategy Committee.3) To note that the Petitions Committee do not specifically endorse the terms of the petition.

Further Action

This petition was considered further at the Corporate Policy and Strategy Committee on 11 June 2013This petition was considered further at the Finance and Budget Committee on 19 September 2013.

Links

<a href=" http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/meetings/meeting/3008/corporate_policy_and_strategy_committee"> Corporate Policy and Strategy Committee 11 June 2013</a> <a href=" http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/meetings/meeting/3094/finance_and_budget_committee"> Finance and Budget Committee 19 September 2013</a>