Whistleblowing Policy
Angus council is committed to operating in an open and transparent manner. The council aims to act with honesty and integrity and to be fully accountable to the public.
The council views malpractice of any description as serious and encourages you to bring to our attention anything happening within the council that might be illegal or improper or unethical.
It is never easy to report a concern and so this policy has been designed to assure you that you can raise a concern in the knowledge that it will be treated seriously, be dealt with at a senior level within the council, that confidentiality will be maintained and that you will be protected from reprisals or victimisation.
What should be reported
If you are concerned about an aspect of an individual's behaviour or a corporate practice which has resulted in or is likely to result in:
- a criminal offence, for example theft or fraud
- a failure to comply with a legal obligation
- a danger to the health or safety of an individual
- a miscarriage of justice
- actual or potential damage to the environment
or, if you are concerned about an attempt to cover up any of the above - then the council urges you to come forward and report your concern.
Reporting a concern
If you have a concern that you are happy to report to a manager within your department then you should do so.
If however you feel that you cannot raise the matter within your department then you can telephone the council's ACCESSLine on 08452 777 778 or, for fraud matters, the council's Fraud Hotline on 0800 027 73 73.
The staff who will handle your call are trained to deal discreetly with all manner of complaints and queries and they will assist you to progress your concern in confidence.
All concerns will initially be reported to the council's Chief Executive, Richard Stiff, and if you prefer you can write to him directly with your concern at Angus Council HQ, Angus House, Orchardbank Business Park. Forfar, DD8 1AX.
Whoever your concern is subsequently referred to will of course depend upon the nature of the concern but it will be to a senior manager within the council.
At this stage, if the matter is identified as solely a personal issue, you might be advised that it would be better dealt with through another of the council's procedures, for example the grievance or harassment at work procedure.
If it is not appropriate to pursue the matter through another procedure further investigation of your concern will be required. This may be done internally but depending on the nature of the concern it may need to be investigated by an external agency eg Police.
In any event you are entitled, should you wish it:
- to know of the action to be taken including likely timescale
- to know if it is decided to take no action
and, subject to the need to maintain confidentiality and avoid prejudicing any investigation:
- to seek a progress update regarding your concern
- to be told of the outcome once the matter is concluded and appropriate action taken.
You may choose to report your concern anonymously. If you do it will still be treated seriously. However, any investigation may be more difficult and you will not get any feedback on the progress of the investigation.
Confidentiality
The council will endeavour to maintain your confidentiality wherever possible. It may not always be possible to guarantee this confidence however, particularly if the matter reported is serious enough to involve, for example, agencies such as the Police or the Health and Safety Executive.
Safeguards
Any threat or attempt to try to stop you raising a legitimate concern will be treated seriously and be dealt with accordingly.
If it is found that any action has been taken against you or that there has been any attempt to take action against you because you raised a concern it will be regarded as serious and the necessary steps will be taken to redress it.
If a concern is found to be false or inaccurate no action will be taken against you provided the council is satisfied that you raised the concern in good faith.
However, if it is considered that you deliberately made an allegation that you knew to be false, or should you be found to be directly involved in any malpractice or wrongdoing, then this will be regarded as serious misconduct and disciplinary action will be taken against you.
Legal Rights
The Whistleblowing Policy allows you to raise concerns on the basis that it is in the public interest to make such matters known to a senior manager within the council and allows you to do so in the knowledge that it will be treated seriously.
In the public interest does not mean that concerns should be made available for public consumption through the media, and unauthorised contact with the media will be regarded as serious misconduct and disciplinary action will be taken against you.
The Whistleblowing Policy does not affect your legal rights under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 which enables you to contact a specified external agency or the media in specific circumstances. The council hopes this will never be necessary but if you feel that you need further advice on this you can approach Public Concern at Work, an independent charity which provides free confidential legal advice, on 020 7404 6609.
Download this Whistleblowing Policy document (25 KB PDF)
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