Agenda Item 7Executive Board MeetingMemo No 13/1726 April 2017

WHISTLEBLOWING

Purpose
  1. To update the Executive Board (EB) on Whistleblowing cases in the FC in the financial year 2016/2017,in line with the FC Whistleblowing Policy and Cabinet Office requirements.

Background

  1. As part of the ongoing implementation of the Government’s requirement for whistleblowing to be reported regularly, a report on Whistleblowing is provided to the EB bi-annuallyin each financial year (October and April).
  2. This report covers whistleblowing in the FC in the financial year ending 31st March 2017.
Report on Whistleblowing
  1. Since April 2016, no concern has been raised under the Whistleblowing Procedure.

The FC England case, raised in December 2015 and reported as a live casein the mid-year report (October 2016),has now been concluded.

  1. Disciplinary action has been taken and feedback has been provided to the whistleblower.
  2. Details of this case are set out in Annex 1.
Point of Consideration
  1. The fact that no concern was raised under the whistleblowing procedure in 2016/2017 may mean that staff are not aware of this policy or are concerned about the consequence of ‘blowing the whistle’.
  2. In order to address this, it is recommended that Heads of HR and their HR Operations Managers remind managers and staff of the whistleblowing policy when they go on site visits, where appropriate, withparticular emphasis on the benefits and the protection afforded to whistle blowers. In addition, the HR Policy team will publicise whistleblowing across the FC through Connect Bulletin on a quarterly basis.
Changes to the Whistleblowing Policy
  1. Following the recommendation to the EB in October 2016 to include a timescale for concluding a whistleblowing case, the Whistleblowing Procedure has been updated to include a timescale of six months’ forinvestigating and concluding whistleblowing cases, with the possibility of extension in exceptional cases. This will ensure an effective process.
  2. In addition, given the changes to Internal Audit, the role of Whistleblowing Nominated Officer and Data Owner has moved to other posts with effect from 1 April 2017.
  3. The HR Policy Manager is the Whistleblowing Data Owner and there are a number of Nominated Officers, chosen by the business, representing each business area. The list of Nominated Officers can be found in Annex 2.
  4. Arrangements are currently being made to hold a Nominated Officer briefing to ensure that Nominated Officers fully understand the Whistleblowing Policy and Procedure and their role as Nominated Officers to ensure the continued effectiveness of the process.
Resource Implications
  1. The HR Policy Manager will be responsible for delivering the whistleblowing briefing and is currently in discussions with Civil Service Employee Policy on any additional support/resource that they might have.
Risk Assessment
  1. Without a clear understanding of their role, there is a risk that the actions of the newly appointed Nominated Officers may inadvertently result in the policy being breached. This is not a major risk as there is an average of one whistleblowing case per year. However, the Nominated Officer briefing will mitigate against this.
Communication Issues
  1. It is expected that Nominated Officers will work with their Country/FR HR Heads to promote whistleblowing in their business areas.
Equality Impact Assessment
  1. None required
Recommendation
  1. The EBis asked to:
  2. note the details of the whistleblowing case carried forward from last year as set out in Annex 1;
  3. consider the point raised in paragraph 7 and the subsequent recommendation in paragraph 8; and
  4. consider the details of policy changes set out in paragraphs 9 – 12, with a view of making recommendations, if any.

Jean Lindsay
Director, Central Services
April 2017

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ANNEX 1

Director Central Services, Whistleblowing End of Year Report, Apr16 – Mar 17

Report to be submitted at the end of March and September yearly. The report submitted at the end of March should capture the entire financial year (April – March), and the report submitted at the end of September should capture six months prior (April – September)

Number of whistleblowing cases in the reference period: One, FC England (concluded)

S/N / Individual Concern Details / Responses
1 / How Concern was Raised (Anonymous/In-Confidence/Open) / In-confidence – email to Head of Internal Audit, with request for anonymity.
2 / Nature of Concern / Allegations primarily related to temporary staff using computer usernames of former staff but also handling telephone enquiries and e-mail correspondence in the name of former staff. Some of those involved were close family relatives. Believed to be a consequence of rapid turnover of staff at the location concerned.
3 / Investigation Undertaken / Fact finding investigation carried out by Internal Audit. Review carried out remotely from Silvan House but included telephone discussions with local managers, and analysis of HR staffing data and IS data on usernames, email accounts and systems access.
Fact finding report to senior management. Findings confirmed a small number of instances where email usernames and business system access IDs belonging to ex-staff had been used by new staff. This included two people who had a close family relationship to the local manager. Some evidence was observed that individuals had used another name when signing off e-mails but the frequency wasn’t great and was concentrated over a short space of time. Telephone calls in another name were not tested as part of the fact finding investigation. There was no evidence that the practices adopted by local management had fraudulent or other inappropriate intentions. The ‘workarounds’ had been adopted to assist the processing of work required. Senior management asked to consider whether further action required both locally or at other locations.
Formal disciplinary action initiated, following guidance from Director HR, and managed by FC England HR.
4 / Outcome of Investigation / Formal Investigation confirmed breaches of information governance protocols in the use of FC ‘on-line’ systems by new members of staff at the location concerned using ‘logon’ details of other staff members who had left the FC. In seeking to fill the requirement for additional staff resource (agreed by senior management) to process work the local Manager employed several new staff including two relatives on Short Term Temporary Appointments. Advice provided was to seek interest in such posts through friends and family and the local Manager was not aware of the detailed FC guidance on ‘Workplace Relationships’. Pre-employment checks were carried out in one case but could not be evidenced for the second employee.
A verbal warning was issued to the local Manager. The hearing manager considered there was sufficient mitigation to warrant this being less than a written warning.
5 / Actions/Changes Made as a Result of the Investigation / Prompt action taken by local management to rectify the user IDs of those involved at fact finding stage.
Post investigation, procedures reviewed to ensure that usernames and system log-ins are handled correctly. Reminder to staff (across the part of the business concerned) not to use, or share, someone else’s details and consequences of such action.
6 / Whistle-blower’s Feedback on the Effectiveness of the Process / Formal response to the individual who reported the incidents advising that fully investigated and appropriate action taken. Individual replied that aware of action taken to improve procedures, had seen the reminder to staff. Confirmation provided that anonymity protected during the investigation, but if any residual concerns on their part to let Head of Internal Audit know. None received.
7 / Details of Report of Bullying/Victimization as a Result of Blowing the Whistle / None reported.

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WHISTLEBLOWING NOMINATED OFFICERS

The FC has a number of Whistleblowing Nominated Officers to represent each business area. If you have a concern that you want to raise with a Nominated Officer, you should make contact with your assigned Nominated Officer. There could be circumstances where it may not feel appropriate to discuss concerns with your designated Nominated Officer, for example, if they are within your line management chain or they work closely with the individual(s) your concern is regarding. In these circumstances, you may contact any of the other Nominated Officers listed below. For further information on the responsibilities of a Nominated Officer, refer to section 5.4 of HR Policy – Whistleblowing.

The list of Nominated Officers and the business areas they cover are set out in the table below:

Name / Job Title / Assigned Business Area / Work Location / Phone Number / Email Address
PK Khaira - Creswell / Head of Executive Office / FC and FE England / Bristol / 0300 067 4062 /
Richard Britton / Head of Forest Services Delivery / Forest Services England / York / 0300 067 4902 /
Nicky Whitaker / Head of Corporate Services Scotland / FC and FE Scotland / Silvan House / 0300 067 6416 /
Steve Penny / Research Liaison Officer / Forest Research / NRS / 0300 067 5972 /
Stephen Bennett / Head of Corporate Services / Shared Services/
CFS / Silvan House / 0300 067 5027 /

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