Recommendation 4

The Cabinet Office and other departments do not seek feedback from whistleblowers and so are missing vital insights into the effectiveness of the process. The ‘whistleblowing heath check’ guidance from the Cabinet Office suggests departments should gather feedback from individuals on whether their concerns have been handled responsibly, professionally and in a positive manner. Feedback can provide a valuable source of information on concerns raised and also provide a whistleblower’s perspective on whether the culture helps people feel safe to raise concerns. It can also help whistleblowers feel listened to and supported, and lead to improvements in the support offered to others. But we have seen no clear indications that any departments routinely seek feedback directly from whistleblowers. Some feedback can be given to departments through their Nominated Officers (senior members of staff who are nominated to receive and consider concerns), but it is not collected in a formal or systematic way for it to be informative and there are limitations with anonymous whistleblowers. By actively seeking feedback from whistleblowers they will feel listened to and more confident that their concerns are being treated seriously. It is up to the Cabinet Office and departments to collect feedback in a positive and constructive way, as suggested by their own guidance. Recommendation 4: In its Treasury Minute response, the Cabinet Office should commit to requiring all departments to collate feedback from whistleblowers at the end of the process. It should implement this immediately and use this information to better understand the whistleblower experience and make improvements.