Investigation into whistleblowing in the civil service

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 10 Jan 2024 Closed: 28 May 2024 Parliament page
There continue to be issues with how whistleblowers can raise concerns in Government, as highlighted by both the Committee on Standards in Public Life in 2023 and the Boardman Review into the development and use of supply chain finance in Government in 2021 . The Committee’s 2014 and 2016 whistleblowing … Read more
6 Recommendations
18 Conclusions
1 Report
1 Oral session
1 Letter
1 Event
Activity timeline 5 events
11 Jul
2025
Report published
25 May
2024
Report published
29 Apr
2024
Correspondence
17 Apr
2024
Oral evidence
17 Apr
2024
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
17 Apr 2024
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Investigation into whistleblowing in the civil service
Esther Wallington · HM Revenue and Customs Fiona Ryland · Cabinet Office Helen Pickles · Department for Work and Pensions Matthew Davies · Cabinet Office
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Thirty-Sixth Report - Investigation into whistleblowing in the c… HC 457 25 May 2024 24 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
3 results
Clear
20 Recommendation Accepted in Part
Thirty-Sixth Report - Investigatio…
Good whistleblowing practices exist but are not consistently shared across civil service departments.
There are some examples of good practice across the civil service when it comes to whistleblowing processes, but they are not always shared between departments and agencies. For example, HMRC has ‘help cards’ to improve the quality of information on … Read more
Government Response
The Cabinet Office will build on existing work to share insight and best practice, work with organizations that have a mature model and explore how the experience to maturity can be shared across government and explore the development of a mentoring system for Nominated Officers with the community of practitioners so they can support and learn from each other.
HM Treasury
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22 Recommendation Accepted in Part
Thirty-Sixth Report - Investigatio…
Cabinet Office has scope to do more to actively surface and share whistleblowing best practices.
The Cabinet Office said it could play a role in collating information across the civil service and share back what works well and what departments can do more of.56 For example, the NAO reported that some departments do not have … Read more
Government Response
The Cabinet Office will build on existing work to share insight and best practice, work with organizations that have a mature model and explore how the experience to maturity can be shared across government and explore the development of a mentoring system for Nominated Officers with the community of practitioners so they can support and learn from each other.
HM Treasury
View details
24 Recommendation Accepted in Part
Thirty-Sixth Report - Investigatio…
Larger departments should provide more support and expertise to smaller agencies on whistleblowing.
We were interested to hear from departments on any improvements that they think can be made in terms of how they can help maintain a high standard of whistleblowing across the civil service. DWP suggested that large departments have a … Read more
Government Response
The Cabinet Office will build on existing work to share insight and best practice, work with organizations that have a mature model and explore how the experience to maturity can be shared across government and explore the development of a mentoring system for Nominated Officers with the community of practitioners so they can support and learn from each other.
HM Treasury
View details
Government Response AI assessment · 23 of 6 classified
Accepted 17
Accepted in Part 3
Acknowledged 3
Total 6 recs + 18 conclusions
Correspondence 1 letter
29 Apr 2024 Correspondence from Jim Harra, Chief Executive and First Permanent Secretary, HM Revenue & Customs, re Investigation into whistleblowing in the civil service, dated 24 April 2024
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