Can a whistleblowing concern be reported anonymously?
When making a disclosure there are different ways that whistleblowers can provide information:
- Whistleblowers can speak with us on an open basis. This means that they are happy for anything they tell us to be attributed to them as a named individual. This does not mean that their identity is shared widely, it is on a need to know basis, so will usually only be known by
Safecall, the Monitoring Officer, the Whistleblowing Team, the Investigating Officer and the Executive Director for the service who is notified that a disclosure has been received.
- Whistleblowers can disclose their identity to Safecall but request their name and any identifying details be withheld from the Council – this is called semi anonymous; or
- Whistleblowers can disclose on a fully anonymous basis, where no-one knows their details. If whistleblowers choose to be fully anonymous then this can sometimes make it more difficult to make contact to request further information if needed to aid the investigation, or to provide them with updates on their case.
If a concern is disclosed directly to Safecall (rather than internally via the Council) then whistleblowers will be provided with login details for Safecall’s portal and will be able to access updates on their case directly.
If we are able to contact a whistleblower via the Safecall portal, then we can request further information if needed to enable an investigation. If a whistleblower makes a disclosure anonymously to the Council (and not to Safecall), for example by anonymous letter, then we will not be able to make contact to request further information or provide updates.
If a whistleblower proceeds anonymously then it is important to be aware that this may limit what we can do to respond to concern(s) as we may not have enough information to conduct a full investigation.
Whistleblowers should be aware that there are also some potential limitations on anonymity, for example a court could order disclosure of information or disclosed information may inadvertently reveal identity and it may not be possible to anonymise fully during an investigation.
If a disclosure raises a concern of criminality or a public safety concern, we may need to report the matter to the relevant authorities.