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Written question asked by Lord Wills (Labour) on Monday, 3 February 2020, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Monday, 17 February 2020. It was answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank (Conservative) on Wednesday, 12 February 2020 on behalf of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Disclosure of Information

Question

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of the protections offered to whistleblowers by regulatory authorities.

Answer

The Government recognises how valuable it is that whistleblowers are prepared to shine a light on wrongdoing, and believes that they should be able to do so without fear of recriminations.

The Government has continued to make reforms to the whistleblowing regime to enhance the role of prescribed persons. The most recent reform was a new legislative requirement for most prescribed persons to produce an annual report on whistleblowing disclosures made to them by workers and how they were taken forward. Relevant prescribed persons were required to publish the second of these reports by the end of September 2019. The duty increases confidence in the actions taken by prescribed persons through greater transparency about how disclosures are handled.

Alongside the new duty, the Government published guidance for prescribed persons to help them understand their role and provide advice on complying with legal requirements as well as practices beyond the whistleblowing legislation.

The Government has committed to reviewing the whistleblowing framework once the recent reforms have built the necessary evidence of their impact.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL1298
Session
2019-21
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Disclosure of information Protection Regulation
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk