Children and Social Work Bill [HL]

Baroness Wheeler Excerpts

Monday 11th July 2016 Grand Committee

[The Earl of Listowel (CB)]

My Lords, this of course brings back memories of the home for adults with learning disabilities that was so well documented on the “Panorama” programme a while ago. While I support the principles that the noble Lord has just laid out, I would point out that many people working in this area nowadays will be working for private businesses. Most children’s homes are in private hands and many foster care agencies are now private, so in that sector there may be well laid-out regulations regarding whistleblowers. Perhaps the Minister could write to us, or have further conversations, to reassure me, at least, that there are whistleblowing protections for those working in the private sector with vulnerable children.

[Baroness Wheeler (Lab)]

My Lords, we are very pleased to support this group of amendments, to which my noble friend Lord Watson has added his name. My noble friend Lord Wills has made a strong case for seizing the opportunity under the Bill of extending the whistleblowing arrangements and protections currently applicable in the NHS to those working in public bodies providing social services and children’s services, and local authorities, in respect of looked-after children and children at risk of harm, and well as to social workers. The Francis report into the Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust was the trigger for enhancing important whistleblowing protections in the NHS, and it is right that we now have similar effective arrangements covering the provision of vital social services.

Under Amendments 127 and 137, which would bring in new clauses after Clauses 14 and 26, the Secretary of State would be required to issue a code of practice on whistleblowing arrangements that could be taken into account by courts and tribunals when whistleblowing arises in public bodies providing social services and employing registered social workers. My noble friend rightly refers to the whistleblowing commission’s code of practice for employers, workers and trade unions, published by the charity Public Concern at Work, which could provide the model or framework for the proposed code. It would also underline that protection for whistleblowers is a statutory requirement with parliamentary enforcement. The commission’s recommendation was that the code should be “rooted in statute”, and we support that.

Current protections offered to staff who challenge poor standards of care, both those covering widespread systemic failure and those involving day-to-day concerns about unsafe or poor practice, are certainly inadequate for those making disclosures in the public interest. The joint Community Care/UNISON workplace zone on whistleblowing underlines that many social workers and care professionals are too afraid to blow the whistle on poor practice. Their regular surveys of social workers give detailed accounts of staff trying to report their concerns, only to come up against bullying colleagues, managers with what they refer to as “selective hearing” and processes that protect the organisation over its staff—the pervasive and powerful organisational culture that my noble friend has identified as operating in workplaces, particularly in large-scale institutions where you have to be very brave and persistent to raise concerns.

The CQC’s quick guide to whistleblowing and the Ofsted reports on whistleblowing about safeguarding in local authority children’s services would give little comfort and reassurances to potential whistleblowers regarding their future security and career. Ofsted has no regulatory powers to investigate whistleblowing complaints but can use them as a trigger to bring forward inspections of council services. The CQC guide outlines clearly the procedures to take but its preface stresses to the staff member raising the issue:

“We don’t have any powers to protect you from action taken against you by your employer”.

The proposed code of practice on whistleblowing arrangements, with the enforcement of the Secretary of State providing guidance that can be taken into account by courts and tribunals, would help to provide reassurance to potential whistleblowers and provide practical guidance to both employers and staff.

Amendments 128 and 138 specifically address the discrimination that whistleblowers who have made a protected disclosure under the Employment Rights Act 1996 in their previous employment can face when applying for a job. The current exclusion of job applicants not considered workers under the Public Interest Disclosure Act can result in whistleblowers being blacklisted and finding it virtually impossible ever to get work again. As noble Lords have stressed, this situation should not be allowed to continue.

One of the key provisions of whistleblowing policies is the requirement for employers to provide assurance to the worker that he or she will not suffer detriment for having raised a concern—in other words, to make every effort to provide protection to whistleblowers who feel they may be vulnerable. These amendments would help to address the current gaps in providing the protection that whistleblowers urgently need and deserve.

[Baroness Pinnock]

My Lords, I shall not repeat what many other noble Lords have said about whistleblowing, but confirm that we on this side totally support what has been said and the amendments that have been tabled.