Whistleblowing policy

When you tell us about your concern(s) under the whistleblowing policy, this is called making a disclosure. A disclosure should be based on a reasonable belief that malpractice

• has taken place
• is happening
• is likely to happen.

A disclosure is also where you have serious concerns relating to the business or activities of the organisation.

You can raise concerns about

• criminal activity
• a failure to comply with any legal obligation
• miscarriages of justice
• damage to health and safety
• damage to the environment
• deliberate concealment of any of the above matters
• fraud or bribery
• a failure to act, for example, about child protection or public safety.

You can also raise serious concerns about

• any aspect of Council business
• the conduct of
  • officers (staff)
  • elected members
  • others acting on behalf of the Council.

A serious concern might be

• a breach of any of the Council’s health and safety policies
• a conflict of interest, for example, inappropriate relationships between Council officers
• a misuse of Council resources, for example, officers using them for personal gain.

Other concerns

If your concern does not relate to those listed above, it may still be investigated under our whistleblowing policy if

• it was not already investigated under a different procedure
• no other procedure is considered more appropriate to investigate the concern
• the service provider determines that there are other reasons to do so.

For a disclosure to be formally recognised as a 'qualifying disclosure' under the Public Interest Disclosure Act, you must believe, based on fact, that the failure has or will occur. It doesn't matter if it turns out not to be true and the disclosure must be in the 'public interest'.