What you should report
We encourage you to use our whistleblowing arrangements for issues such as:
- conduct which is a criminal offence or breach of law
- a breach of our code of conduct for staff or Councillors
- sexual, physical or verbal abuse of our clients, employees or public
- dangerous procedures risking the health and safety of our clients, employees or public
- unauthorised use of public funds
- suspected fraud or corruption
- damage to the environment (for example land, buildings, highways, water, air, waste, energy, transport, natural habitat etc.)
- unethical or improper conduct
- services that fall seriously below approved standards or practice
- failure to follow our policies and procedures
Note - this is not an exhaustive list
Anonymous or untrue allegations
We do not encourage anonymous reporting as the concerns are more difficult to investigate and are generally less powerful. We would like you to put your name to the allegations whenever possible and remind you of the protection we can provide if we know who you are.
Anonymous whistleblowing referrals will be considered at the discretion of the officers handling your concern, in consultation with the service area, where appropriate. This discretion will be based on the:
- seriousness of the issues raised
- credibility of the concern
- likelihood of confirming the allegation from an attributable source
- evidence base
It may be that our investigations do not confirm your allegation. We take all concerns seriously and can assure you that no action will be taken against you if you have raised a concern in the genuine belief that it is, or may be, true.
If we find that you have maliciously made a false allegation we will take action and you will not be eligible for protection under PIDA.