Item 19 - Appendix 1

West Dunbartonshire Council · 2 November 2022
Back to Corporate Services Committee — 2 November 2022 and its agenda

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HR Employment Policy & Procedures
Public Interest Disclosure Policy
Review Date: July 2022
Appendix 1

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Document Management - Version Control
Policy Title &
Reference
Public Interest
Disclosure Policy HRP/00
Version Number &
Date 3.0 July 2022
Title, Version
Number & Date of
Superseded
Version (if
applicable) 
Public Interest
Disclosure Policy  2.0
Rationale for
introduction/Driver
for change
Updated to incorporate recommendations made
by Internal Audit following an investigation
Summary of
Substantive
Changes (if
applicable)
Section 8.2 of the Procedure has been changed
as new protocols have been introduced to further
ensure the confidentiality of Public Interest
Disclosure emails and attachments sent to Chief
Officers/Chief Executive. 
Emails sent will be marked as Private to ensure
they are visible to the recipient only and not
accessible to Leadership Support Personal
Assistants. 
A further failsafe has been introduced, namely
that Leadership Support Personal Assistants are
instructed to not open Public Interest Disclosure
emails.
Summary of
Technical Changes
(if applicable)
Lead Officer Tara Spooner, HR Adviser
Final Trades Union
Position The policy was agreed on
Consultation &
Approval Process
Committee/Forum Date
Trades Union
Convenors  13/9/22

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JCF (if applicable)
C. S. Committee (if
applicable) 2 November 2022
Accompanying
Documentation
(incl. EIA)
Online forms:
Record of Concern:
https://intranet.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/people-
technology/hr-online/core-employment-
policies/making-a-disclosure-in-the-public-
interest/
Linked Policy,
Schemes and
Procedures
Code of Conduct https://intranet.west-
dunbarton.gov.uk/media/15259/code-of-conduct-
version-44.pdf
Grievance Policy and Procedure
https://intranet.west-
dunbarton.gov.uk/media/15403/grievance-policy-
44-february-2020.pdf

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Contents
Section Title Page Number
Public Interest Disclosure Policy 5 – 8
1 Introduction 5
2 Scope 5
3 Error! Reference source not found. 5
4 Error! Reference source not found. 6
5 Legislative Context 6
6 Application of Policy 6
7 Roles and Responsibilities 7
8 Review and Monitoring 8
Public Interest Disclosure Procedure   9 - 13
1 Introduction  9
2 Protection 9
3 Reporting a Concern 9
4 Handling Concerns 11
5 Outcome of Investigation  12
6
7
8
9
10
Feedback
Deliberately False or Malicious Allegations
Confidentiality
Anonymous Allegations
Record Keeping
12
12
13
13
13
Appendices  14 - 16
1 Record of Concern 14
2 Internal Audit Contact Details 16

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1. Introduction
1.1 The Council is committed to the highest possible standards of delivery of
services and for full accountability for those services. In line with this
commitment, employees are encouraged to come forward and raise any
serious concerns they may have about malpractice or wrongdoing within
the Council, as early as possible, to enable us to deal with risks
appropriately.
1.2 This policy has been developed to promote, encourage and support
employees to make disclosures in the public interest.  The supporting
procedures outline how to raise concerns, how we will handle concerns
and the protection rights for employees.  Protection is guaranteed for an
employee who raises a reasonable and honest suspicion about a possible
fraud, danger or other serious risk that threatens customers, colleagues,
the public or the Council’s own reputation.
2. Scope
2.1 This policy applies to all employees of West Dunbartonshire Council
including, Local Government Employees, Quasi-Craft Workers, Teaching
Staff and Chief Officers.
2.2 Concerns relating to a dispute about the employee’s own employment
position, with no additional public interest dimension, are out-with the
scope of this policy and fall under the remit of the relevant Grievance or
Discipline policies.
3.0 Definitions
3.1 A disclosure in the public interest is where an employee has a concern
about a danger, illegality or malpractice that has a public interest aspect to
it; usually because it threatens others such as the local community,
service users or other employees. 
3.2 A qualifying disclosure is a concern about one or more of the following:
• Criminal offences (such as fraud or corruption);
• A failure to comply with a legal obligation including statutory code of
practice;
• A miscarriage of justice;
• Threats to an individual’s health and safety;
• Damage to the environment; and/or
• A deliberate attempt to cover up any of the above.

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3.3 Where a concern is raised through this policy but is not deemed a
disclosure in the public interest, employees will be referred to the most
relevant policy to raise their concern.
4. Key Principles
4.1 This Policy aims to:-
• Create a culture of openness to encourage employees to raise
concerns as early as possible to enable appropriate action to be taken.
• Provide a clear framework for raising concerns and feedback on any
action taken.
• Reassure employees that they will be protected from possible reprisals
or victimisation when a disclosure is made under the Policy.
5. Legislative Context
5.1 The legislative context of the policy is Part IVA (Protected Disclosures)
and section 103A of the Employment Rights Act 1996, as amended by the
Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 and the Enterprise and Regulatory
Reform Act 2013 (“the legislation”).  The legislation seeks to protect
individuals who make certain disclosures of information in the public
interest. Such qualifying disclosures that are in the public interest and
meet the legal test will be protected in law. The Act also provides a right
for individuals to bring action in respect of victimisation related to such
qualifying disclosures.
5.2 All data recorded under this policy will be held in compliance with GDPR
Regulations and the Data Protection Act 2018.
6. Application of Policy and Procedures
6.1 To support the application of this policy, separate procedures have been
developed. The procedure outlines four routes for employees to make
disclosures in the public interest. The four routes are listed below and
detail on how to report a concern are outlined in Section 3 of the
Procedures:
Route 1 - Disclosure made to Line Manager 
Route 2 - Disclosure made to Line Manager’s Manager or other
appropriate Senior Manager
Route 3 - Disclosure made to Internal Audit
Route 4 - Disclosure made to External Regulating Body

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7. Roles and Responsibilities
7.1  Council
• Creating a culture of openness to encourage employees to raise
concerns as early as possible.
• Ensuring that appropriate mechanisms are in place for employees to
report wrongdoing or malpractice and for such reports to be
investigated accordingly.
• Protecting employees making a disclosure in the public interest in line
with the legislation.
• Ensuring Internal Audit is advised of the Disclosure in the Public
Interest.
7.2 Management
• Maintaining knowledge of the ‘Public Interest Disclosure Policy’.
• Carrying out a prompt investigation of any disclosures made in the
public interest.
• Supporting employees making a disclosure in the public interest in line
with the legislation.
7.3 Employees
• Maintaining knowledge of the ‘Public Interest Disclosure Policy’.
• Raising qualifying disclosures as soon as possible in line with
procedure to enable management to carry out any required
investigation.
• Participating in any resulting investigation.
Internal Audit
• Carrying out prompt investigation of any disclosures made in the public
interest.
• Supporting employees making a disclosure in the public interest in line
with the legislation.
7.4 Human Resources
• Providing guidance, advice and support where necessary.
• Carrying out the review of the Policy and Procedure.
7.5 Trades Unions
• Providing guidance and support to employees.
• Accompanying employees to investigatory interviews as required.

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8. Reviewing and Monitoring
8.1 The policy will be reviewed in accordance with new or amended legislation
as required. Responsibility for policy review, informing, negotiating and/or
consulting with Trade Unions and reporting to the appropriate Committee
rests with the Chief Officer, People and Technology.
8.2 All concerns raised under the policy will be reported to Internal Audit who
will maintain a central record and report complaints in summary form to
the Audit Committee.

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Procedures
1. Introduction
1.1 These procedures have been developed to support the Public Interest
Disclosure Policy and outline how an employee can raise a concern, the
steps that will be taken when a concern has been raised, providing
feedback, confidential reporting and record-keeping.
2. Protection
2.1 Employees making a disclosure in the public interest will be protected
against being subjected to any detriment such as dismissal, harassment,
victimisation or any other form of punitive sanction when a protected
disclosure is made.
2.2 For an employee’s disclosure to be protected by law they must:
• Disclose information and not simply make unsupported allegations
• Reasonably believe the information is in the public interest and
substantially true
• Reasonably believe it shows one of the categories of qualifying
disclosure, as referred to at 3.2 of the Policy.
2.3 If an employee is victimised or treated unfavourably due to making a
disclosure in the public interest, this will be a disciplinary matter and will
be referred to the appropriate disciplinary policy.  
3. Reporting a Concern
3.1 Employees should report any concerns as soon as possible using the
appropriate reporting route.  An employee is not expected to carry out any
personal investigations to gather evidence, however they must disclose
facts/information (as referred to at 2.2 and 3.4 of this Procedure) to allow
the matter to be properly considered.
3.2 Any contact with the press must be made through the Chief Officers
People and Technology and Citizen, Culture and Facilities (CCF) and take
account of the Council’s Code of Conduct. Any disclosures to the press or
any other person not authorised by the Council, or protected by the Public
Interest Disclosure Act, are prohibited and may result in disciplinary
action.
REPORTING ROUTES
Route 1 – Line Manager

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3.3 Employees should initially raise any concerns with their direct line
manager.  Concerns can be raised verbally or in writing. 
3.4 An employee should provide as much information about the matter
including: nature of concern; any relevant background information; the
person/people involved, where they work, dates and times; names and
jobs of other people who may or may not support the concern.
3.5 The Manager hearing the concern will take a record of the details. A
template for recording concerns is available at appendix A. 
Route 2 – Line Manager’s Manager or other appropriate Senior
Manager
3.6 When an employee does not feel confident about raising a concern with
their line Manager, or they suspect the concern implicates the line
Manager in some way, the concern can be raised at a more senior level.
3.7 The Manager dealing with the concern will take a record of the details for
recording purposes. A template for recording concerns is available at
appendix A.
Route 3 – Internal Audit
3.8 The Council understands that employees may wish to raise a concern
outside of line management or receive independent advice on concerns
they may have before reporting this to their Manager. Employees can
raise a concern through Internal Audit or by contacting the following
number for confidential advice - 01389 737272
3.9 Concerns can be raised verbally or in writing to Internal Audit. Contact
details for Internal Audit can be found in Appendix B and on the Intranet.
3.10 Employees are not required to complete any paperwork however; Internal
Audit will take a record of the details for recording purposes.
Route 4 – External
3.11 When an employee makes an internal disclosure in the public interest the
relevant external bodies will be notified of any risks identified by the
Council. While it is hoped that the Public Interest Disclosure Policy will
encourage employees to raise concerns internally, the Council accepts
that there may be occasions when an employee may decide that it is not
appropriate to raise concerns internally. In this case the employee may
contact the appropriate external body (e.g. Police, HSE, registered
statutory body) in line with the Code of Conduct.    
4.0 Handling Concerns

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4.1 When a concern has been raised an assessment will be made of the
action to be taken.  This may involve an internal query or a more formal
investigation. 
4.2 Before an investigation is carried out the line Manager or Internal Audit will
consider whether the concerns should be treated as a disclosure in the
public interest e.g. something a regulator would consider to be of public
interest. This will include considering the following factors:
• An employee making a disclosure in the public interest is best viewed
as a witness who is putting the organisation on notice of the risk rather
than as a complainant seeking to dictate to the organisation how it
responds.
• A disclosure in the public interest is an aspect of good citizenship in
that the employee is speaking up for, and on behalf of, others to draw
this malpractice or wrongdoing to the attention of the Council.
4.3 If the concerns do not meet these factors, the employee will be directed to
the most relevant policy to take their concerns forward. 
4.4 Management or Internal Audit will consider the information in the context
of what they know about the particular area or activity and the information
the employee provides. From that, and on the assumption that the
information is well-founded, the Manager or Internal Audit should assess:
• how serious and urgent the risk is;
• whether the concern can best be dealt with under the Public
Interest Disclosure policy or some other procedure; and whether
the assistance of, or referral to, a Chief Officer or a specialist
function will be desirable or necessary.
4.5 If the information can simply be followed up during a routine audit, or if it
could just as easily have come from a customer complaint, then there will
often be practical advantages for all concerned if the organisation
addresses the matter on that basis and does not build its response around
the employee’s evidence. If this appears a realistic way forward, the
employee that reported the concern should be informed, where they have
provided their details. 
4.6 If appropriate, the Manager or Internal Audit will conduct an investigation
into the concerns and produce a report detailing their findings to be
passed to the appropriate departmental Senior Officer. Investigations will
be carried out following the Council’s standard guidelines on conducting
an investigation.

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4.7 Where Internal Audit finds cause for further action following an initial
investigation, this will be passed to the relevant Chief Officer to nominate
an appropriate Manager to take forward. 
4.8 Where specific inquiries need to be made in the area where the employee
raising the concern works, the employee should be prepared to answer
questions as part of the process. 
5.0 Outcome of an Investigation 
5.1 Following the investigation, if a disciplinary offence has been identified the
complaint will then be dealt with under the relevant disciplinary policy. 
5.2 If a serious issue has been identified, the Manager or Internal Audit will
consider informing any external bodies (e.g. a regulator, a supervisory
agency or the police) either to enlist their assistance or to reassure them
that the matter is being addressed properly.
5.3 Following the investigation, if it is identified that there is no case to
answer, no further action will be taken.
6. Feedback
6.1 When requested, the Council will provide relevant feedback to the
employee who raised the concern. While the Council will provide as much
feedback as it properly can, due to the legal obligations of confidentiality,
feedback will not include the outcome of any disciplinary action taken
against another employee or any information that may lead to a wider
public disclosure.
6.2 Where feedback is limited, employees should be assured that, this does
not reflect on the seriousness of the original concern.
6.3 In the event that no conclusion can be drawn from the concerns raised,
and the employee did not act maliciously, the employee will be advised of
the outcome of the investigation with any discrepancies between the initial
report and the findings being highlighted.
7.0 Deliberately False or Malicious Allegations
7.1 An employee will not be penalised or subjected to any detriment for
making a public interest disclosure.  However, where a concern is not a
public interest disclosure and it is considered that it was raised frivolously,
maliciously, was vexatious or for personal gain, this will be a disciplinary
matter.
8.0 Confidentiality

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8.1 Concerns raised will be treated in strict confidence and, when requested,
an individual’s identity will normally be kept confidential.  This ensures
protection from reprisal in line with the provisions of the Public Interest
Disclosure Act 1998. However in some circumstances it may not be
possible to preserve the anonymity of the employee making the initial
report. For example, if the matter is serious enough to be investigated in
detail by Internal Audit or reported by the Council to an external agency
such as the Health and Safety Executive or the Police. 
8.2 In all cases, concerns directed to Chief Officers will be marked as Private
and the subject header will read Strictly Confidential. Emails marked as
such are set up so that only the recipient is able to access them. In the
event that a Chief Officer’s Leadership Support Personal Assistant (PA)
comes across a Public Interest Disclosure email, they are instructed to not
open the email or any attachments. These established protocols in respect
of highly sensitive emails and attachments addressed to Chief Officers,
and the responsibilities of their Leadership Support Officers in relation to
these, will apply.
9.0 Anonymous Allegations
9.1 To assist in the effective investigation of any disclosures made under this
policy the Council strongly encourages employees to reveal their identity.
9.2 If an employee chooses to make an anonymous disclosure, the Council
will not be able to provide any feedback to the individual and the Manager
or Internal Audit will have to consider the seriousness of the issue, the
credibility of the concern and the likelihood of being able to confirm the
allegation, in other ways.
10.0 Record Keeping
10.1 A central record of all complaints raised under this policy will be
maintained.  This will include complaints reported via the confidential
helpline or via a Manager.  The record will show details of the complaint,
action taken and outcome.
10.2 Where, following an investigation, no further action is required all
documentation will be destroyed.
10.3 Following the investigation, if a disciplinary offence has been identified the
complaint will then be dealt with under the relevant disciplinary policy and
records held in compliance with that policy.

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Private and Confidential
Disclosure in the Public Interest
Record of Concern
Employee Name
Employee Reference Number
Job Title
Department
Phone Number
Details of concerns Raised
Date concern raised
Confidentiality Requested Yes No
Response Supporting Evidence
Investigation Approved 
Employee directed to
relevant policy to raise
concern
No further Action required
Line Manager’s Signature Date
Employee’s Signature Date
Appendix 1

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Appendix 2
Internal Audit Contact Details
E-mail publicinterestdisclosure@west-
dunbarton.gov.uk
Post  Public Interest Disclosure
West Dunbartonshire Council
16 Church Street
Dumbarton
Intranet/Internet An online form is available on the
Intranet and Internet.
Public Interest Disclosure hotline 01389 737272
End of Document