How can whistleblowers and other involved parties be assured that a disclosure will be properly investigated?
Where a fact-finding investigation is conducted by an Investigation Officer from the Council, Safecall will oversee the investigation and/or the outcome and check that it has been thorough and, where possible, addressed all of the concerns raised in the disclosure. If investigated externally (e.g. by an external law firm) then the investigation will be independently conducted and again checked by Safecall.
If a whistleblower has any concerns about independence or fairness they can raise these with Safecall directly via the portal or telephone on 0800 58 78 770, or email cec@safecall.co.uk.
All investigation findings and outcomes (including any recommendations for management action) are reported to the Monitoring Officer and then to GRBV Committee for scrutiny and closure. If GRBV are not satisfied they can postpone case closure, request that more investigative work be undertaken, that service management attend committee to answer their questions and/or add management actions of their own.