Cllr Paul Elgood

An independent report into Brighton and Hove City Council's governance arrangements has criticised the authority's approach to whistleblowing.
 
The delayed report, finally published by the council in December 2009, stated that: "The Council's whistle blowing policy is not well publicised and more work is needed to strengthen arrangements for reporting (in confidence) incidents of inappropriate behaviour. The Council has a policy in place but 56 per cent of officers and 45 per cent of Councillors surveyed did not believe that the Council has an effective whistle blowing policy. In addition, there was a very high percentage of 'don't know' responses to the survey by senior officers and Councillors for this area. This means that the policy has not been effectively communicated to Councillors and officers."
 
Lib Dem Councillor Paul Elgood has long campaigned for improvements to the council's approach to whistleblowing - both in terms of personnel matters and wider corporate failings. He said:
"The Audit Commission have highlighted the very issues we've been raising with the council for years now.
 
"A majority of officers and a huge number of councillors now support this view. The council must now act to restore confidence in its whistleblowing practices.
 
"If there was an effective policy in place, then the council would not be constantly dogged by this criticism.  It astounds me that this isn't the case and that the council hasn't acted to ensure that an effective policy is there for when it is needed. They need only look to other councils for examples of good practice.
 
"Whistleblowing processes in the council simply do not encourage people to come forward to raise their concerns over wrong doing and malpractice.
 
Paul added: "Why does the council have to be dragged to act on this?"

Cllr Gill Mitchell, Leader of the Labour Group said:
"The criticisms by the Audit Commission bear out what opposition councillors have been saying for some time, that the council needs to have a more independent Whistleblowing policy. This report has been suppressed by the council since it was first released by the Audit Commission back in May last year and the comments relating to Whistleblowing must be taken seriously".

Conservative Councillor, Brian Oxley, who chairs the Governance Committee, said:
"The fieldwork for this report was carried out in Autumn 2008 and the issues highlighted have been addressed or are in the process of being addressed. While the report covers the issue of publicising the whistleblowing policy, there are no specific recommendations on this and because of this we have consulted extensively with outside experts, including the District Auditor, to ensure we adhere to the very best practice.
 
"Residents, staff and councillors can be assured that the council keeps its whistleblowing policy under regular review to ensure that it operates as effectively as possible and issues will be examined by the council's Governance Committee next on 12 January".
 
The full Audit Commission report can be seen at:
present.brighton-hove.gov.uk/Published/C00000162/M00001868/AI00012316/Item47GoodGovernanceReportAppendix1.pdf