The launch of two backbench bills this year has kick started a Parliamentary debate about whether there should be a regulator, commissioner or ombudsman overseeing whistleblowing. In February, Dr Phillipa Whitford, MP for Central Ayrshire, launched her Public Interest Disclosure (Protection) Bill in the House of Commons, and Baroness Kramer launched her Office of the … Read more
Gagging clauses have become quite the talking point thanks partly due to the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the #MeToo era and countless other news stories exposing their misuse. Controversial debate around the use of gagging clauses, or NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) and financial settlements to conceal sexual assault and harassment has tarnished the image of NDAs … Read more
Academics, journalists, whistleblowers, advocates and members of the public gathered at The Shard for an event hosted by Warwick Business School recently to discuss the hurdles they faced in their own journeys and recent trends in whistleblowing. Protect’s Policy Officer, Laura Fatah, attended the event arranged by academics Marianna Fotaki and Iain Munro (www.whistleblowingimpact.com) with … Read more
Protect is hosting a round table breakfast for the insurance sector at law firm Mayer Brown with Mike Carpenter (former Group Financial Crime Risk Director at Legal and General), Paul Boyle OBE (Chairman of Protect), and Chris Chapman (Compliance Partner at Mayer Brown). Together, they will be discussing a number of topics around speak-up cultures, … Read more
Financial service workers who have blown the whistle on workplace wrongdoing will be the focus of new research by Protect and law firm Slater and Gordon. The research is to find out whether the FCA’s rules on whistleblowing have made a difference to whistleblowers’ experiences. Head of Policy at Protect, Andrew Pepper-Parsons will work with … Read more
Protect welcomes the launch of Dr Whitford MP’s private members bill – Public Interest Disclosure (Protection) Bill as an important step towards reforming the legal protection for whistleblowers. Protect Acting Chief Executive, Liz Gardiner, said, “We’ve been calling for legislative reform as today’s whistleblowing law is out of date, so we are delighted that Dr … Read more
Protect and law firm Howard Kennedy joined forces for a successful secondment, offering a three-month secondment to Protect’s trainee solicitor, Hari Raithatha, and Howard Kennedy’s trainee solicitor, Diarra Brown. So, how did they get on, and what did they both learn? Qu: What did you do, and what did you learn? Hari: Being at … Read more
I joined Protect as a volunteer just after I finished my Legal Practice Course and although I had only a basic grasp of aspects of employment law, Protect’s work really appealed to me. Summarising Employment Tribunal judgments and highlighting the relevant discussions of the Public Interest Disclosure Act seemed daunting at first, but after an … Read more
Following the CQC investigation into West Suffolk NHS Hospital, Protect Acting Chief Executive, Liz Gardiner, said: ‘Those who raised concerns and voiced their alarm about the toxic culture at West Suffolk need to be thanked for doing so. Their whistleblowing triggered a CQC inspection and the regulator has now downgraded an outstanding hospital to one … Read more
Protect welcomes Baroness Kramer’s Office for the Whistleblower Bill which has been launched in the House of Lords (Tuesday January 28). Protect Acting Chief Executive, Liz Gardiner, said, “Now more than ever, we need to create an independent but central body that drives better policy and standards for whistleblowing. We want to see much greater … Read more
