Enhanced Whistleblower Protection
An enhanced system for protection of whistleblowers and for providing assistance for the Police Service on general ethical issues should at least comprise the following: (a) greater prominence should be given to the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA) telephone line operated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC); (b) there should be an 'ethics line' to the IPCC, available for all serving Police Officers, providing general ethical guidance; (c) to avail those at rank of Chief Constable (Assistant Commissioner level within the Metropolitan Police Service), Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary should identify one of its members, a former Chief Constable, as the designated point of contact for confidential ethics guidance. The Chief Officer seeking and obtaining that advice would be able to refer to it should any issue subsequently arise on a complaint to a Professional Standards Department, a Police and Crime Commissioner, or indeed the IPCC itself. The advice would not be determinative of the complaint, but the fact that it was sought and received, as well as its content, would be a matter to be taken into account; (d) within the IPCC itself, there is a need for an enhanced 'filter system' whereby the nature of complaints are appropriately addressed at an early stage so that (a) they can be investigated at the right level, and (b) sufficient structures are put in place to maintain confidentiality of the complaint, and differentiate as soon as is appropriate between genuine whistleblowers and those who are merely ventilating a personal grievance; (e) the former Chief Constable referred to under sub-paragraph (c) above should also be the recipient of complaints about Chief Constables made to the IPCC. In the event that he or she may already have given informal advice in relation to the subject-matter of the complaint, as per sub-paragraph (c) above, a substitute HMI would be deputed to act; and (f) Chief Officers should also be the subject of regular independent scrutiny by HMIC, including through unannounced inspections.
- The IOPC operates a confidential reporting line for police officers and staff wishing to report wrongdoing (IOPC, Report police wrongdoing).
- The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 protections for whistleblowers continue to apply to police officers and staff (Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, legislation.gov.uk).
- The College of Policing Code of Ethics (2014) includes guidance on the duty to challenge and report improper conduct, and the College of Policing published guidance on ethical dilemmas (College of Policing, Code of Ethics, 2014).
- No published evidence of a comprehensive review of the whistleblower protection system specifically in the police-media context, as recommended, has been identified to March 2026.
How was this evidence gathered?
Response
Accepted
Response
AcceptedThe Prime Minister stated on 29 November 2012: "Lord Justice Leveson makes a number of recommendations that are designed to break the perception of an excessively cosy relationship between the press and the police and we support these recommendations." The College of Policing published Authorised Professional Practice on Media Relations in May 2013 implementing the police recommendations. Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/david-cameron-statement-in-response-to-the-leveson-inquiry-report
Published Evidence
Published assessments of progress from inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Source type badge indicates whether each assessment is independent or government self-reported.
The IPCC was replaced by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) in January 2018 with enhanced powers. Whistleblower protections have been strengthened. However not all elements of Leveson's detailed six-part recommendation (ethics line, designated HMIC contact, enhanced filter system) have been specifically implemented.
View detailed findings
Whistleblower protection infrastructure has been strengthened through the IOPC but not all six elements of this detailed recommendation were specifically implemented.