News - Protect - Speak up stop harm

Protect publish report ‘Why we need a legal duty on employers’

20th September 202120th September 2021 by Alex Allen

Protect today publishes report, ‘Why we need a legal duty on employers‘ as part of ongoing campaign, ‘Let’s Fix UK Whistleblowing Law’ to reform the Public Interest Disclosure Act. The report highlights the key finding from YouGov research that UK workers – 76% – want to see all employers have whistleblowing standards in place and … Read more

Whistleblowing at work webinar – why the law needs to ask employers to do more

9th September 202131st August 2021 by Alex Allen

Protect continues its series of webinars as part of campaign ‘Let’s Fix UK Whistleblowing Law’ and we are lining up a webinar on September 20 (10am-11am) entitled ‘Whistleblowing at work webinar – why the law needs to ask employers to do more’ to discuss and debate the need for a legal duty on employers around whistleblowing. Keep … Read more

Goodbye and good luck!

19th August 202119th August 2021 by Alex Allen

Protect bids farewell this month to Legal Adviser, Burcak Dikmen, and Parliamentary Officer, Kyran Kanda, as well as Michael Szlesinger, who leaves after a six-month secondment from law firm Lewis Silkin LLP, and intern Millie Camp, who has supported Protect’s policy work over the summer. Burcak said, “Starting my legal career at Protect as a … Read more

Just how ‘well’ is the welfare in the meat industry?

16th August 2021 by Alex Allen

Scandals in the meat industry make fairly frequent news. Many consumers will recall the horse meat scandal in 2013 which found undeclared horse in beefburgers and lasagne and Mad Cow’s disease in the 1990s. But today we still hear regular news stories of mislabelling and of out of date meat making its way onto consumer ... Read more

National Guardian data shows record number of health workers are speaking up – but more are facing detriment for doing so

29th July 2021 by Alex Allen

Record numbers of health care workers in the NHS are speaking up to NHS Freedom to Speak Up Guardians – over 20,000 cases in 2020/21 – but more are facing detriment for doing so. There are over 700 Freedom to Speak Up Guardians in NHS Trusts in England supporting healthcare workers to speak up about anything which impacts on their ability ... Read more

Protect statement on “Children in the care of Lambeth Council” Investigation Report

29th July 2021 by Alex Allen

Protect is dismayed by the report, ‘Children in the care of Lambeth Council’, published by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. The report makes damning findings against the council that it allowed serious abuse against children to take place between the 1960s and 1990s. The report finds that the council operated a “culture of ... Read more

Read our latest newsletter

28th July 2021 by Alex Allen

Protect’s latest newsletter is now available to read, featuring news on Jonathan Taylor, blogs, our responses to Government consultations and updates from our Business Support Team and details of upcoming training courses. Read our July newsletter

Protect responds to Government Official Secrets Act reform with calls for a Public Interest Defence

28th July 202126th July 2021 by Alex Allen

Protect along with WIN (Whistleblowing International Network) have jointly responded to a government consultation on reforming the Official Secrets Act 1989. Our response states, “We have long held the view that the Official Secrets Act should contain a Public Interest Defence (PID) which is vital to the functioning of a democracy. Whistleblowing is necessary so ... Read more

Protect welcomes new mandatory duty on employers preventing workplace harassment

26th July 202126th July 2021 by Alex Allen

New government plans to introduce a mandatory duty requiring employers to prevent harassment in the workplace have been welcomed by Protect. This duty will mean that employers must take all reasonable steps to protect employees from sexual and other forms of harassment at work. The government has also announced an intention to reintroduce protection against ... Read more

Will the Information Commissioner’s Office’s (ICO) raid damage whistleblowing?

16th July 202116th July 2021 by Alex Allen

16 July 2021 Protect is concerned by reports that the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) have conducted raids of two houses in the South of England in relation to suspected data breaches following a story appearing in the Sun on the 26th June involving former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock, breaching ... Read more