03 September 2004
Public sector organisations should actively promote the importance of whistle-blowing in the fight against financial corruption and mismanagement, Audit Scotland secretary Bill Magee said this week.
The audit body reported that almost all Scottish councils have now developed specific whistle-blowing policies to guide staff. In 2001, 11 of the 32 Scottish councils did not have a whistle-blowing policy communicated to all staff. Now, however, only one – East Lothian Council – has not yet finalised a policy, though it is working towards one.
With more than half a million public sector workers in Scotland, Magee emphasised that whistle-blowing is a matter that must be taken seriously by every public sector organisation.
Pressure group Public Concern at Work (PCAW) welcomed more active policies to promote whistle-blowing. Its Scottish director, Harry Templeton, said: 'Scotland lags behind other UK regions in recognising the importance of creating a culture that encourages concerned individuals, aware of problems or hazards in their workplace, to effectively raise these bona fide public interest matters without fear of reprisals or adverse personal repercussions.'
Audit Scotland is encouraging public organisations to distribute leaflets, entitled Don't turn a blind eye, produced jointly with PCAW. One has a checklist of 'do's and don'ts' for concerned employees and emphasises that free advice is available.
A second leaflet explains why it is important that public sector managers put whistle-blowing policies in place and provides pointers to help them do this.
Magee said Scottish councils had made great progress. He added: 'Every public sector organisation needs to take whistle-blowing seriously as it can both detect and prevent financial corruption and mismanagement.
'Having an easily accessible policy in place is an essential part of good governance and we look at this as part of our audits.' Magee said the 1998 Public Interest Disclosure Act provided a safe disclosure route for employees. He stressed, however, that people should use this only as a last resort. The first step was to follow their own organisation's procedures.
'We are asking public sector organisations to be proactive, to distribute these leaflets as widely as possible and to consider other strategies for effectively communicating whistle-blowing information to all their staff,' Magee said.
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