Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many cases of whistleblowing were (1) reported, and (2) investigated, by the Financial Conduct Authority in (a) 2020 (b) 2021, (c) 2022, and (d) 2023.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The FCA has reported and investigated the following number of whistleblowing cases for each year given:
As a Prescribed Person under the Public Interest Disclosure Act, the FCA has made this information publicly available in its Annual Report and Accounts since 2017.
Figures for 2022-2023 will be published in July in the FCA’s upcoming Prescribed Persons report.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many cases of whistleblowing were (1) reported, and (2) investigated, by the Prudential Regulation Authority in (a) 2020 (b) 2021, (c) 2022, and (d) 2023.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The Prudential Regulation Authority has reported and investigated the following number of whistleblowing cases for each year given:
As a Prescribed Person under the Public Interest Disclosure Act, the PRA has made this information publicly available in its Annual Report and Accounts since 2015/16.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many cases of whistleblowing were reported and investigated by the Civil Service in (1) 2022, (2) 2021, (3) 2020, and (4) 2019.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
We are made aware by departments annually, who also report on behalf of their agencies, of cases raised formally through whistleblowing procedures.
We will be commissioning data for the 2022/23 period (April 2022-March 2023) from departments in June 2023.
In 2021/22, 311 cases were formally raised and investigated in government departments. The concern was upheld in 30 cases.
In 2020/21, 245 cases were formally raised and investigated in government departments. The concern was upheld in 13 cases.
In 2019/20, 383 cases were formally raised and investigated in government departments. The concern was upheld in 33 cases.
We do not ask departments for reports of informal cases.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many cases of whistleblowing were reported and investigated by the Financial Conduct Authority in (1) 2022, (2) 2021, (3) 2020, and (4) 2019.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The FCA has reported and investigated the following number of whistleblowing cases for each year given:
As a Prescribed Person under the Public Interest Disclosure Act, the FCA has made this information publicly available in its Annual Report and Accounts since 2017.
Figures for 2022-2023 will be published in July in the FCA’s upcoming Prescribed Persons report.
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the review of the whistleblowing framework announced by her Department on 27 March 2023, whether that review will consider the potential merits of establishing an independent Office of the Whistleblower.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The review will consider evidence related to the effectiveness of the whistleblowing framework in meeting its intended objectives: to enable workers to come forward to speak up about wrongdoing, and to protect those who do so against detriment and dismissal.
The full Terms of Reference for the review are published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-the-whistleblowing-framework/review-of-the-whistleblowing-framework-terms-of-reference.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the Governance and assurance review of the Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust by the Good Governance Institute, published in March 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Whilst we have not made a formal assessment, we announced on 23 January 2023 that we will be conducting a rapid review into mental health inpatient settings, with a specific focus on how we use data and evidence, including complaints, feedback and whistleblowing alerts, to identify risks to safety.
NHS England has also commissioned an independent review into the failings within the trust’s services reported at the Edenfield Centre and the failure within the organisation to escalate concerns and mitigate against patient harm. This is expected to conclude by no later than 30 September 2023.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the suitability of the data that is collected on NHS funded mental health inpatient services.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Mental health data, including data on inpatient services funded by the National Health Service, are kept under regular review by NHS England and are subject to ongoing improvement. This includes a focus on improving data quality, and identifying and publishing key metrics, with the aim of monitoring both the activity within services and the quality of care delivered.
In addition, the rapid review we are conducting into mental health inpatient settings has a specific focus on how we use data and evidence, including complaints, feedback, and whistleblowing alerts, to identify risks to safety.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will list the existing data sets that will be considered within the rapid review of patient safety in mental health inpatient services.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The terms of reference for the rapid review of patient safety in mental health inpatient services state that the review will consider data and evidence collected by national and regional bodies and local systems on mental health inpatient services funded by the National Health Service, including complaints, user voice and whistleblowing alerts. The terms of reference do not specify a list of datasets for the review to consider. The full terms of reference are available at the following link:
Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 9 March (HL6179), how many of the whistleblowing cases formally raised and investigated in each of the last three years fell into each of the following categories (or similar categories): (1) financial wrong-doing, (2) sexual misconduct, (3) national security, (4) misleading Parliament or the public, and (5) other.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
CSHR commissions departments annually to provide an overview of cases investigated formally through their whistleblowing procedures.
Data is provided based on a number of categories set out in the Civil Service annual data return and so does not align directly with the categories set out in the question; financial wrongdoing, sexual misconduct, national security, misleading Parliament and other.
Please note the caveat that national security whistleblowing data is a matter for the United Kingdom Security & Vetting team and is therefore not captured in these summaries.
2019/2020 - 383 cases were formally raised and investigated in government departments, with the concern upheld in 33 cases. They fell into the following categories:
Breach of Civil Service code - 23
Breach of security / information policy - 23
Bullying and harassment - 4
Danger to environment/health and safety - 13
Deceiving/misleading Ministers, Parliament and others - 2
Discrimination - 11
Failure to comply with legal obligations - 22
Fraud - 148
Frustrating implementation of policy - 7
Influence by improper pressure/personal gain - 14
Misuse of official position - 39
Other/Blank - 77
2020/2021 - 245 cases were formally raised and investigated in government departments, with the concern upheld in 13 cases. They fell into the following categories:
Breach of Civil Service code - 14
Breach of security / information policy - 8
Bullying and harassment - 1
Danger to environment/health and safety - 44
Deceiving/misleading Ministers, Parliament and others - 4
Discrimination - 7
Failure to comply with legal obligations - 12
Fraud - 96
Frustrating implementation of policy - 9
Influence by improper pressure/personal gain - 6
Misuse of official position - 19
Other - 25
2021/2022 - 311 cases were formally raised and investigated in government departments, with the concern upheld in 30 cases. They fell into the following categories:
Breach of Civil Service code - 0
Breach of Security / information policy - 14
Bullying and harassment - 4
Danger to environment/health and safety - 23
Deceiving/misleading Ministers, Parliament and others - 13
Discrimination - 5
Failure to comply with legal obligations - 19
Fraud - 131
Frustrating implementation of policy - 4
Influence by improper pressure/personal gain -10
Misuse of official position - 38
Other - 50
Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 9 March (HL6179), how many of the whistleblowing cases formally raised, investigated and upheld in each of the last three years fell into each of the following categories (or similar categories): (1) financial wrongdoing, (2) sexual misconduct, (3) national security, (4) misleading Parliament or the public, and (5) other.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
CSHR commissions departments annually to provide an overview of cases investigated formally through their whistleblowing procedures.
Data is provided based on a number of categories set out in the Civil Service annual data return and so does not align directly with the categories set out in the question; financial wrongdoing, sexual misconduct, national security, misleading Parliament and other.
Please note the caveat that national security whistleblowing data is a matter for the United Kingdom Security & Vetting team and is therefore not captured in these summaries.
2019/2020 - 33 cases were formally raised, investigated and upheld in government departments, falling into the following categories:
Breach of Civil Service code - 3
Breach of security / information policy - 4
Bullying and harassment - 1
Danger to environment/health and safety - 1
Deceiving/misleading Ministers, Parliament and others - 0
Discrimination - 1
Failure to comply with legal obligations - 3
Fraud - 12
Frustrating implementation of policy -0
Influence by improper pressure/personal gain - 1
Misuse of official position - 0
Other/Blank - 7
2020/2021 - 13 cases were formally raised, investigated and upheld in government departments, falling into the following categories:
Breach of Civil Service code - 1
Breach of security / Information Policy - 0
Bullying and harassment - 0
Danger to environment/health and safety - 6
Deceiving/misleading Ministers, Parliament and others - 0
Discrimination - 1
Failure to comply with legal obligations - 0
Fraud - 1
Frustrating implementation of policy - 1
Influence by improper pressure/personal gain - 0
Misuse of official position - 1
Other - 2
2021/2022 - 30 cases were formally raised, investigated and upheld in government departments, falling into the following categories:
Breach of Civil Service code - 0
Breach of Security / Information Policy- 2
Bullying and harassment - 0
Danger to environment/health and safety - 3
Deceiving/misleading Ministers, Parliament and others - 3
Discrimination - 1
Failure to comply with legal obligations - 5
Fraud - 6
Frustrating implementation of policy - 1
Influence by improper pressure/personal gain -0
Misuse of official position - 4
Other - 5