Cllr Elgood

An internal audit report has criticised aspects of Brighton and Hove City Council's approach to whisteblowing.

The report, to be discussed by councillors later this week, has found that improvements need to be made by the authority in terms of communicating the policy, case management and creating internal ownership of whistleblowing inside the authority.


The report found that:

• Comparison with the whistleblowing arrangements of other local authorities did not identify any significant weakness in the council’s. Many issues identified in this review such as ownership and case management were common to a high number of the local authorities.

• There is an opportunity to update the Whistleblowing Policy to improve the general language used, readability and understanding to encourage legitimate concerns to be raised.

• Although guidance exists on the procedure this is separate to the main policy and should be part of the same document with a very clear step by step guide.

• The whistleblowing arrangements need to be clearly communicated through all channels.

• There is a lack of overall ownership of the arrangements and case management of concerns raised including effective recording, decisions taken and outcomes.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Paul Elgood, who has been working with Gscene to promote a range of good governance issues in the council, said:
"I fought a five-year battle to bring these issues out into the open and I am glad the council is finally admitting that its current practice falls short of openess and transparency.

"This internal audit report highlights the key issue and that is in communicating the whistleblowing policy so that people can make quick and easy referrals when they are aware of wrong doing.

"You can have the best policy in the world, but if nobody knows about it, then it is next to useless.

"The council has a long way to go before confidence in the process is accepted."

For more information about the Liberal Democrats view:
www.brighton-hovelibdems.org.uk