Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 31
31
Accepted
Sellafield Ltd uses NDAs and makes significant special payments for employment claims.
Recommendation
The Department also considered that workers’ willingness to report safety issues is correlated with their willingness to report other poor behaviour.89 We asked about Sellafield Ltd’s use of non–disclosure agreements–a previous Public Accounts Committee report noted that these agreements have been used elsewhere in the public sector to cover up failure.90 The NDA told us that “there may be occasional instances” – and subsequently informed us that Sellafield Ltd had signed 16 non–disclosure 84 C&AG’s report, para 3.17 85 Committee of Public Accounts, Investigation into whistleblowing in the civil service, Thirty–sixth Report of Session 2023–24, HC 457, 25 May 2024 86 Q 9 87 Qq 3, 40; Letter from the Group Chief Executive Officer at the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority relating to the oral evidence session held on 20 March on Decommissioning Sellafield, 4 April 2025, page 4 88 Q 85 89 Qq 85–86 90 Committee of Public Accounts, Confidentiality Clauses and Special Severance Payments, Thirty–sixth Report of Session 2013–14, HC 477, 24 January 2014 21 agreements in the last three years.91 Additionally, the NDA made ‘special payments’ of £377,200 in 2023–24 to settle claims relating to employment matters.92 The NDA acknowledged that “there is more work to do across the group”, and committed to “continue to work them through and investigate where appropriate”.93 Both the NDA and Sellafield Ltd insisted that they were “not complacent” when it comes to addressing bullying and harassment.94
Government Response Summary
The government accepted the recommendation, stating the NDA will publish an annual “People” report by October 2026, providing data on staff survey results, Speak Up incidents, and safety culture to enhance transparency and assess corporate culture.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: October 2026 The NDA is committed to maintaining a safe, healthy, and high-performing workplace where people can thrive. It has taken decisive steps to foster an open and respectful culture including strengthening the Speak Up policy (which includes whistleblowing). Improvements are reflected in recent staff survey results. Although the NDA is encouraged by this progress, it remains vigilant and continues working to ensure all employees feel respected and confident in raising concerns, and that these are addressed appropriately. While the publication of staff survey results without appropriate context can lead to misinterpretation, the NDA is keen to provide a more contextualised view of cultural progress. As such, the NDA will publish an annual “People” report containing information about staff survey results (including scores, narrative, trends), Speak Up data (including rates of reporting, types of matter raised, outcomes), and other matters which help assess the health of its corporate culture. Its approach to breaking down results by Operating Company and demographic will, of course, need to be guided by confidentiality of individuals, following best practice. It will consider potential inclusion of appropriate benchmarking. Nuclear safety is paramount, and rigorous standards are upheld to protect the workforce, the public, and the environment. The NDA is confident in the strength of internal safety metrics and reporting mechanisms which are underpinned by independent assurance from regulators. Regular group wide reviews of safety culture are carried out using verified external methodologies to test workforce attitudes and beliefs around reporting of events. The NDA will include relevant data in the “People” report.