In 2013 the Government commenced a review of whistleblowing legislation. A key finding was that whistleblowers did not have confidence that disclosures were investigated. To address this, the Government has decided to introduce new legislation requiring prescribed persons to report annually on whistleblowing issues. The purpose of this new requirement is to improve transparency and consistency in the way whistleblowing disclosures are handled.

It is proposed that each report include statistics on how many disclosures were made during the previous 12-month period and the proportion of these disclosures that could be considered as whistleblowing. Each report must give the number of disclosures for which no further action was taken and, where action was taken as a result of a disclosure, the report must describe the type of action taken.

Prescribed persons will be required to publish the report online for maximum accessibility. There will be flexibility around when the reports must be produced. Prescribed persons can choose whether to incorporate the report within a pre-existing report or to publish it as a separate report.

The Department of Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) must be sent a copy of each report. The various reports will be consolidated into a single report which will be laid before Parliament.

Guidance for prescribed persons: http://bit.ly/1Fzymk6