Home > FOI 282 – Whistleblowers

FOI 282 – Whistleblowers

The OPCC is asked to provide information about the number of whistleblowing report received during 2019 and 2020.

FOI Request

  1. How many reports did you receive from whistleblowers in 2019 and in 2020?
  2. How many people do you have in your organisation that are trained/permitted to take reports from whistleblowers?
  3. What training have the people in question number 2 received in whistleblowing?
  4. What cost, if any, was there for this training?
  5. Which organisation delivered each course?
  6. What is the name of the person that arranged this training and what is their email address?
  7. What methods do you have for whistleblowers to contact a person that is authorised to take their report and what are the specific details of these, i.e., email addresses, telephone numbers etc?
  8. What are the email addresses for the people authorised to receive whistleblower reports?
  9. How many whistleblowers have left the organisation within 12 months of making a report?
  10. How many whistleblowers have made an allegation of ‘detriment’ against your organisation?

OPCC Response

I can confirm that the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cleveland does hold this information.

For the sake of ease and brevity in answering your requests, we have adopted the conventional expressions “whistleblowing” and “whistleblower” from your questions, denoting participation in the making and handling of public interest disclosures – although they are expressions which we are seeking to review out of our handling of such matters, in favour of neutral terminology.

  1. How many reports did you receive from whistleblowers in 2019 and in 2020?

Due to the small number of whistleblowing reports received by the OPCC during the specified timeframe, I consider the disclosure of the exact number of reports to be exempt under Section 40 of the FOIA. Publication of the exact number of disclosures could lead to the ‘jigsaw identification’ of the individuals concerned, which would contravene the data protection principles set out in Section 40 of the FOIA, cause significant harm to involved parties and undermine the confidentiality clauses of the OPCC Public Interest Disclosure Policy.

However, we are willing to give you an indicative figure of the number of individuals who have made disclosures that fell within the remit of the OPCC Public Interest Disclosure Policy, and which were handled in accordance with said policy.

We can confirm that more than one but less than ten individuals made such disclosures to the OPCC during the time period specified.

  1. How many people do you have in your organisation that are trained/permitted to take reports from whistleblowers?

Although three posts are specified in the policy as being appropriate recipients of disclosures, the OPCC Public Interest Disclosure Policy (see link above) places particular emphasis on the role of the Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer in handling disclosures. All of the disclosures received by the OPCC and handled in line with this policy during the specified timeframe were overseen by this individual.

  1. What training have the people in question number 2 received in whistleblowing?

The Chief Executive is legally qualified and is well practiced in the legislation and procedures on protected disclosures. As part of regular CPD, the Chief Executive takes responsibility for refreshing knowledge and staying informed on developments in best practice, including by the use of the Cleveland Police LexisNexis online legal resource subscription, to which he has access.

  1. What cost, if any, was there for this training?

There is no recorded information held.

  1. Which organisation delivered each course?

There is no recorded information held.

  1. What is the name of the person that arranged this training and what is their email address?

There is no recorded information held.

  1. What methods do you have for whistleblowers to contact a person that is authorised to take their report and what are the specific details of these, i.e., email addresses, telephone numbers etc?

The contact details for the individuals authorised to handle whistleblowing are listed in the OPCC Public Interest Disclosure Policy which is published on the PCC website and is linked to above.

Please note: The policy contains contact details for one post holder who has since changed roles – the contact details for the current post holder will be substituted as part of routine review, as soon as possible following the publication of this response.

  1. What are the email addresses for the people authorised to receive whistleblower reports?

Please see answer to Q7 above. These are contained within the OPCC Public Interest Disclosure Policy.

  1. How many whistleblowers have left the organisation within 12 months of making a report?

We hold no recorded information of whistleblowers fitting the criteria set out in this question.

  1. How many whistleblowers have made an allegation of ‘detriment’ against your organisation?

We hold no recorded information of whistleblowers fitting the criteria set out in this question.