Protection for Whistleblowers - Find a freedom of information request

I write seeking information about your Local Authority’s role as a prescribed body under the Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Persons) Order 1999.

The context is that an external whistleblower is making a disclosure to your Authority about a matter in respect of which you are a prescribed body or person as per the above:

1. Does your organisation take action to protect external whistleblowers from unjustified treatment by their employers or others?

2. Does any protection against unjustified treatment provided by your organisation extend to persons reporting on behalf of external whistleblowers?

3. Does any protection extend to propose or intended unjustified action against an external whistleblower contemplated by his/her employer or another in respect of the disclosure?

4. Does your organisation offer any reward or bounty for information received from an external whistleblower in respect of information about which you are the prescribed body or person?

5. Does your organisation publish for the public a step by step guide on how it follows up on external whistleblower information?

6. Where your organisation does not feel itself to be legally competent to engage with a disclosure made by an external whistleblower, do you have a policy and process to refer that disclosure to another prescribed body/person/regulator or other agency better placed to deal with it?

7. Where in the circumstances described in question 6 above, your organisation passes information to another prescribed body etc., do you have a policy and process to advise the external whistleblower that the disclosure has been passed to another body etc.?

8. Where an external whistleblower may be dissatisfied with his/her dealings with your organisation, is there an appeals policy and process which engage someone who is independent of the investigating department?

9. Does your organisation publish FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) to advise and assist external whistleblowers considering making a disclosure to you?

10. Does all your staff which communicates with or otherwise manages external whistleblowers receive specialist and on-going training for that purpose?

11. Where, following a disclosure to your organisation by an external whistleblower about a matter for which you are prescribed, an alleged act of retaliation occurs against the external whistleblower by the employer or another person, does your organisation investigate the alleged act of retaliation?

12. Please describe what criteria you consider in deciding whether to investigate information received from an external whistleblower about a matter in respect of which you are prescribed?

13. Does your organisation distinguish between public complaints and external whistleblowers?

14. Apart from any information on your website, does your organisation undertake any public awareness programme(s) regarding whistleblowing?

Lincolnshire Trading Standards adheres to Lincolnshire County Council's whistleblowing policy which allows for Councillors, LCC employees, employees of other local authorities, school governors, contractors, partners and members of the public to confidentially raise concerns of wrongdoing.

The Policy is available on the Councils external website here:
https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/downloads/file/1962/whistleblowing-policy-pdfa

In relation to consumer protection matters, concerns reported to the service are reported, in the main, through the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline, see:
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/

All consumer protection complaints reported through the helpline are shared with Lincolnshire Trading Standards, with every complaint reviewed and assessed by the Trading Standards Duty Officer. Complainants can opt to provide their personal details or complaints can be made anonymously through the Consumer Helpline or anonymously through Crimestoppers. We may also receive consumer complaints through the range of law enforcement partners we work with. We will make every effort to protect the identity of whistleblowers. Information will not be disclosed without consent unless the law allows or compels us to do so, for example in order to comply with a court order