What happens after a whistleblowing disclosure is made?
On receipt of a disclosure, Safecall’s Operations Director carries out an initial assessment and recommends a course of action for the investigation. The Council’s Monitoring Officer and
Whistleblowing Team (part of the Council’s Governance Team) will then review the disclosure and Safecall’s recommendation and the investigation approach is agreed. The typical courses of action that will follow are:
- Early resolution facilitated discussion – where appropriate and where the whistleblower has indicated that they would be open to this approach they may be contacted to explore if there is potential for the concerns raised to be resolved through facilitated dialogue between parties.
- Internal investigation – Conducted by an Investigating Officer in the Council, usually from the specialist Investigations Team though on occasion Safecall may recommend that a subject matter expert might be better placed to investigate, e.g. Health & Safety.
- External investigation – Conducted by an external investigator (outwith the Council) where a disclosure is considered to be particularly complex or significant. This may be Safecall, an
external law firm or referral on to an external organisation, e.g. the Police, Care Inspectorate, etc.
The process by which Safecall, in partnership with the Whistleblowing Team and Investigations Team, assesses whether a disclosure is a whistleblowing matter or a matter that should be dealt with under another Council process (e.g. Grievance Policy) is called triage.
Whistleblowers will be informed if a disclosure does not properly fall under the scope of the Whistleblowing Policy. Wherever possible an appropriate route to report a concern will be provided, e.g. to the Council’s Complaints Process, the Fraud Reporting Portal on the Council’s website, to Internal Audit by email on InternalAudit@edinburgh.gov.uk, to Health and Safety or to Human Resources.
For disclosures that do fall within the scope of the Whistleblowing Policy, a Case Officer and an Investigation Officer will be assigned to the case.
Case Officer (CO)
The Case Officer will be a member of the Whistleblowing Team (in the Council’s Governance Team) and will liaise with whistleblowers, the Investigation Officer and Safecall until the case has concluded.
The Case Officer will ensure that the investigation report findings and any recommendations are
signed off by the Council’s Monitoring Officer and Safecall before further scrutiny by the Governance, Risk and Best Value Committee (GRBV).
The Case Officer will also monitor the implementation of any management actions or recommendations that may have resulted from the investigation.
Investigation Officer (IO)
The IO will undertake a fact-finding investigation into the concerns raised. That investigation will be dependent on the level of information provided. In the interests of a thorough investigation it is important that whistleblowers provide as much detail as possible – names, dates, places, named
witnesses etc.
If investigated internally the IO will aim to complete the investigation phase within 3-6 months of
being assigned the case. If investigated externally then the investigation phase may take longer than 6 months. Please also be aware that the sign-off and reporting phase of the process (to the Governance, Risk & Best Value Committee (GRBV)) means that it will take longer to finalise the case overall.
The timescales provided are indicative and not guaranteed. Some disclosures are very complex and may take considerably longer to investigate thoroughly, particularly where, for example, witnesses are not available due to sickness or other absence. Insofar as practicable, you will be kept up to date with progress. All efforts will be made to ensure that the case is concluded as quickly as possible.
Whistleblowers may also be contacted (via any contact details provided or via the Safecall portal) to request clarification on some of the information provided, to provide additional detail/context or to meet with the IO to provide a witness statement.