To update the Committee as to the operation of the Whistleblowing Policy.

The Head of Legal Services (HLS) introduced the report the purpose of which was to update the Committee as to the operation of the Whistleblowing Policy. The principal points included:

• On 23 June 2023 the Committee reviewed and approved the existing Whistleblowing Policy.
• It had been considered since that the Policy did not require any further updates.
• 3 Complaints had been received in 2023/24 via the whistleblowing email account, two disclosures were investigated by the relevant manager and management action was completed. The third complaint related to an individual who was not employed by the Council.
• 2 Complaints had been received in 2024/25; both had been rejected as neither related to the Council as one related to an external company and other a different council.
• The lack of complaints were not thought to be a concern and did not mean that employees or the public are not raising complaints. It meant that the public are using the complaints process and employees are using the grievance or other employment processes.

In response to committee questions, it was noted:

1. The HLS explained that the whistleblowing policy is for staff and employees and gives them the opportunity to report a complaint / issue without it posing a risk to their position or to any detriment to themselves.
2. The HLS explained that if a similar report was raised by a member of the public, such reports would be treated as a complaint and would be processed via the appropriate complaint’s channels. Members of the public are allowed to make a complaint anonymously, but it was highlighted this may cause problems with effectively dealing with their complaint. The public would need to request anonymity but in practice, these reports come to the council as anonymous emails in any event.    
3. It was confirmed that to promote the policy following a recommendation passed by this committee previously, the Chief executive includes this within the staff updates every six months. It was also noted that it is also included as part of any new members of staff induction to the council.

RESOLVED:

That: The committee noted the operation of the employee Whistleblowing Policy since the update to the Policy in June 2023 and the SWAP audit.