A powerful statement from Labour’s Phil Brickell MP as he kicked off his speech in a Westminster Hall debate on the Contributions of Whistleblowers, held to mark World Whistleblowers Day. The session brought together key parliamentarians with strong opinions and perspectives on how the law and whistleblowing needs to be modernised. From exposing the lack of legal protections for self-employed people to pushing for a legal duty on employers to investigate matters that are raised by whistleblowers, the session included strong arguments that the whistleblowing legal framework is not working well enough, with the government minister Justin Madders, conceding the case for change.
The debate was hosted by Labour MP and Anti-Corruption APPG member Lloyd Hatton, who opened the debate with a strong speech highlighting the importance of whistleblowers in combating corruption and fraud. He highlighted that 43% of fraud was detected by tip-offs last year and started the debate by calling on the government to introduce a legal duty for organisations to investigate the issues raised by whistleblowers.
Labour MP and former employment law solicitor Sarah Russell spoke of her experience with whistleblowing cases and the difficulties of proving and winning for the whistleblower, because employers can too easily say the dismissal or resignation of a whistleblower was due to their behaviour and the manner in which they blew the whistle, rather than because the whistleblower spoke up. She also referenced an investigation by Inside Housing magazine where a whistleblower working to assess fire risks in social housing warned of a culture of cover-up, and experts being put under pressure to downgrade risks to save money. Being self-employed the assessors acted without the protection of whistleblowing laws – a gap Russell said needed to be filled to better protect workers.
Phil Brickell’s speech focused on tackling economic crime. He urged companies to be required to investigate whistleblower concerns relating to economic crime, with independent oversight of those investigations, in line with our existing amendment to the Employment Rights Bill which has been supported by the former minister, Lord Wills. Secondly, he urged the Government to consider establishing a central whistleblowing body that can offer advice, support and a safe route to report wrongdoing, akin to the Office of the Whistleblower proposal.
The debate also heard from the DUP MP Jim Shannon who shared a story about a personal friend of his who blew the whistle and suffered terrible consequences as a result. He pushed the Minister to commit that whistleblowing legislation will be as strong in Northern Ireland as it is in the rest of the United Kingdom. The Liberal Democrat spokesman Steve Darling highlighted his party’s support for an Office of the Whistleblower, the strengthening of whistleblower laws and a culture change in supporting whistleblowers. Meanwhile the Conservative spokesman, Shadow Minister Greg Smith, highlighted the previous government’s support for whistleblowers, including expanding the list of prescribed persons, introducing new protections for whistleblowers in health and social care, and establishing whistleblowing channels across Government Departments.
In responding to the arguments presented in the debate the government minister Justin Madders conceded the current law allows employers to ignore whistleblowing disclosures – although referenced that regulators and other prescribed persons could be approached if an employer does not act. The minister also acknowledged the gaps in the law – specifically relating to self-employed people, non-executive directors and charity trustees – and noted our campaigns on expanding protections for whistleblowers and helpfully stated that his officials will continue to engage with us on these issues.
It is an important development that a government minister is responding to Protect’s proposals, and that he has acknowledged the current deficiencies in the law. Finally, he stated that the long awaited Whistleblowing Framework Review – commissioned in 2023 under the Sunak conservative government – would be released shortly. While it will not contain any concrete policy recommendations he said, “I believe it will be something we can build on in terms of moving forward in this debate.” A commitment of sorts and something we will be sure of holding the minster to when the review is published.