Blog

They say everything’s bigger in America. This month, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)  announced it will increase the maximum amount it pays out to whistleblowers providing information on cartel activity from £100,000 to £250,000. It may sound a lot, but it’s dwarfed by the $279 million paid out to a single whistleblower by ... Read more

Press release Wednesday 31 May 2023 New Chair of Trustees for Protect- the UK’s whistleblowing charity Protect is delighted to announce the appointment of Lucy McLynn as the new chair of trustees, to replace Paul Boyle OBE who is standing down after six years in the role. Lucy McLynn is Head of Employment and partner ... Read more

May 2023  It has been a long-time coming, but the Government have announced their plans to review the whistleblowing legal framework.  As our whistleblowing laws approach a quarter-century, this review is well overdue.    Whistleblowing review  The review has been under consideration since 2017, where it was promised as part of the Anti-Corruption Strategy with ... Read more

Fire and Rescue Services need to improve whistleblowing procedures to address cultural concerns The Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Fire commissioned an independent report on values and culture in the fire and rescue services (FRSs). The report findings are stark and shows that the FRS is falling short of the high standards which ... Read more

The Food Standards Agency (“FSA”) - a prescribed body for whistleblowers to raise health concerns in the food supply chain - has come under fire this week after fraudulent pork found its way to the shelves of almost all major UK supermarkets. An investigation conducted by Abi Kay from Farmer’s Weekly revealed longstanding and widespread ... Read more

In this blog Protect Legal Adviser Gabriel Radonich details the legal tests for media whistleblowing, and the challenges facing civil service whistleblowers. In December 2021, in the wake of the chaos surrounding the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, Josie Stewart became a whistleblower. A senior official at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), she had ... Read more

Update on the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill This month saw the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill debated in the Lords for it's Second Reading. The bill introduces new powers for Companies House, tightens up rules for Limited Partnerships and introduces new intelligence gathering powers for law enforcement.  It is a follow up ... Read more

Q: What is the Whistleblowing Scanner? The Whistleblowing Scanner is essentially an online assessment which helps your organisation see whether your whistleblowing arrangements are fit for purpose. It is aimed at organisations with 50 – 250 employees operating across all industries in the UK, EU and internationally. It is a fast and easy way for ... Read more

As of December 2022, Members of Scottish Parliament (MSPs) are ‘Prescribed Persons’ This is a positive step to extend the scope of whistleblowing law in Scotland, and increase vital protections to whistleblowers. Protect are proud to be using our expertise in whistleblowing law to offer bespoke training to MSPs and their staff.  Over the course ... Read more

Everything you need to know about Ireland’s protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022 In April 2019, the EU Parliament passed an EU Directive on Whistleblowing (“the Directive”), to create a uniform standard of protection for whistleblowers across the Member States. Deputy Michael McGrath, Minister of Finance for Ireland, described the Directive as, ‘among the most far-reaching ... Read more