The most comprehensive survey of UK business’ whistleblowing policies. By Public Concern at Work and EY, with 93 percent of respondents sayig they have formal whistleblowing arrangements in place.

One in three organisations think their whistleblowing arrangements are not effective 54 percent said they do not train key members of staff designated to receive concerns 44 percent confuse personal complaints with whistleblowing. One in ten say their arrangements are not clearly endorsed by senior management. The most comprehensive survey of UK businesses’ whistleblowing policies since the spate of recent scandals has found that despite over 90 percent of companies adopting formal whistleblowing policies, 54 percent said they do not train key members of staff designated to receive concerns and nearly half of companies (44 percent) confuse personal complaints with whistleblowing. The survey, conducted by the UK’s leading authority on whistleblowing, Public Concern at Work and global professional services organisation EY, also found that one in three respondents believe their whistleblowing arrangements are not effective.

The survey asked senior staff from over 30 different sectors, including Central Government, Banking, Healthcare and Construction, about their company’s individual whistleblowing policy, representing the most in-depth and comprehensive survey of this kind to date. Cathy James, Chief Executive at Public Concern at Work, comments: “While it is encouraging that a large number of companies have formal whistleblowing policies in place, it is deeply worrying to see how these policies are being implemented and managed. There appears to be a box-ticking culture emerging, rubber stamping policies which are not effective and that do not provide advice and support to whistleblowers – this could lead to serious issues being unreported or ignored. Training for staff dealing with whistleblowing concerns, which can be extremely complicated and often sector specific, appears to be woefully inadequate.”