Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she is taking steps to ensure that staff in her Department who are under investigation for alleged misconduct are not named before those allegations are proven.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has clear policies in place aligned with Civil Service HR’s wider model discipline policy, stipulating that all cases of misconduct should be dealt with confidentially, and everyone involved in the discipline process is expected to maintain confidentiality. Any breaches of confidentiality may be treated as misconduct.

This does not prevent someone from raising a matter under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA) where they have a relevant concern and sits alongside a separate Whistleblowing and Raising a Concern Policy in line with PIDA.