Westminster whistleblowing policies for CSA
IICSA · Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse Linked to Westminster Investigation Report · Issued 25 February 2020 · Addressed to: UK Government
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation, E
Government, political parties and other Westminster institutions must have whistleblowing policies and procedures which cover child sexual abuse and exploitation. Every employee must be aware that they can raise any concerns using these policies and that the policies are not limited to concerns specific to a person's employment.
IICSA, Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse Linked to Westminster Investigation Report · 25 Feb 2020 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- In May 2023, the government confirmed that whistleblowing policies covering child sexual abuse are in place across government departments (Government Response to IICSA Final Report, HM Government, May 2023).
Response — verbatim from government
●UK Government
On 18 September 2020, the UK government confirmed that all government departments have whistleblowing policies in place. It confirmed that Civil Service HR has a model policy to support departments in ensuring their policies are effective. With regards to Parliament, the UK government stated that internal policies and procedures are a matter for both Houses and that the UK government respects the exclusive cognisance of each House to conduct its own internal affairs. It stated that it is clear that all institutions should have appropriate policies and procedures in place to ensure that they fulfil their responsibilities to safeguard children. In July 2020, the Co-operative Party stated that it had whistleblowing policies and procedures in its staff handbook. Between June 2020 and March 2021, the Green Party, the Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats, the Conservative Party, Plaid Cymru, the Ulster Unionist Party, the Social Democratic and Labour Party, the Democratic Unionist Party and the Scottish National Party stated that they had updated policies and/or staff handbooks.
UK Government · 22 May 2023 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
No published activity has been recorded against this recommendation yet.
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.