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Investigation into whistleblowing in the civil service

Whistleblowing arrangements in government require further improvement with slow and inconsistent progress being made by departments and other civil service bodies, a new National Audit Office (NAO) report says.

Published: 19 Dec 2023 Recommendations: 4 Type: Value for Money NAO confirmed: 4 Department: Cross-government
Dept: Cross-government Topics: Accountability and oversightPeople and operationsProject and service deliveryWorkforce nao.org.uk →

Recommendations

4 items
4 accepted 4 implemented

Recommendation 1

Addressee: Cabinet Office · Source location: Page 11, 21

a In order to build a fuller understanding of whistleblowing outcomes and what happens to whistleblowers, Cabinet Office should work with departments to
improve the completeness of data, broaden the categories of data it collects and deepen the analysis it undertakes. Additional categories of data could
include information on cases that were previously ongoing, time taken for investigations, whether whistleblowers have made claims of victimisation and how these claims were responded to;

Response position: Accepted

Delivery: Implemented · Q2 2025-26 · Confirmed by NAO

Recommendation 2

Addressee: Cabinet Office · Source location: Page 11, 21

b Cabinet Office should work with departments to encourage them to use every concern raised as an opportunity to learn from whistleblowers, including those concerns where no wrongdoing is found;

Response position: Accepted

Delivery: Implemented · Q2 2025-26 · Confirmed by NAO

Recommendation 3

Addressee: Cabinet Office · Source location: Page 11, 21

c When data is available Cabinet Office should use it to establish the extent of whistleblower complaints of intimidation or victimisation, build an understanding of the number of and patterns in complaints, and consider any need to coordinate departmental action

Response position: Accepted

Delivery: Implemented · Q2 2025-26 · Confirmed by NAO

Recommendation 4

Addressee: Cabinet Office · Source location: Page 11, 21

d Cabinet Office should build on its efforts to help departments learn from
different approaches to whistleblowing, focusing on areas such as supporting effective assurance by senior leaders and Audit and Risk Assurance Committees, understanding whistleblowers? experience and supporting the people that work with whistleblowers.

Response position: Accepted

Delivery: Implemented · Q2 2025-26 · Confirmed by NAO

Public Accounts Committee follow-up

2 reports

The Public Accounts Committee examined this NAO report and published its own recommendations. The government responds to PAC recommendations via Treasury Minutes.