The Government has published its response to its call for evidence in July 2013 on whistleblowing. According to the response, the evidence has confirmed that the whistleblowing framework in isolation does not always prevent malpractice from taking place. Nor does it encourage people to raise their concerns.  To address these concerns the Government intend to take both legislative and non-legislative measures, comprising of 9 steps which are set out on pages 23 to 25 of the response. Key proposals are as follows:

– Require prescribed persons to report annually on whistleblowing, which has already been actioned by way of Clause 135 in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill, to help instil confidence that prescribed persons follow up protected disclosures.

– Create a model whistleblowing policy which would assist businesses in creating their own policies and procedures for dealing with whistleblowing and help instil a consistent level of best practice across organisations.

– Work with relevant bodies to make sure that comprehensive guidance is made available for those who are thinking about whistleblowing to ensure they are aware of all the processes and issues.

– Ensure that those who make whistleblowing claims, in particular, are made aware that if they are successful in tribunal the general position is that the respondent will be ordered to reimburse the fees.

The Government plans to begin implementation of the non-legislative changes following publication of the response. For the changes requiring secondary legislation, work will begin and be subject to the parliamentary processes. The ambition will be to complete these by April 2015. The change requiring primary legislation will be introduced through the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill, as indicated above.

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