Whistleblowing and Nominated Officers

You asked

1. When were Nominated Officers first established in the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA)?

2. How many Nominated Officers are currently in post in the UKSA?

3. Please provide the relevant UKSA policy which governs the appointment and operation of Nominated Officers.

4. Please share detail of any tool which the UKSA uses to track and collate data on whistleblowing by Department Staff.

5. Please advise of the total number of whistleblowing incidents in the UKSA since 1 April 2014 until the present time. Please give a breakdown by each financial year of the numbers of whistleblowing incidents in each year.

6. Please advise if the UKSA has reviewed how well the Nominated Officer system is working, and if so, please share any reports, record of findings or equivalent documents.

We said

Thank you for your enquiry.

The answers to your questions are as follows;

1. When were Nominated Officers first established in the UKSA?

April 2015

2. How many Nominated Officers are currently in post in the UKSA?

6

3. Please provide the relevant UKSA policy which governs the appointment and operation of Nominated Officers.

The role of the Nominated Officers is covered within our Whistleblowing Policy, which is enclosed.

Some information has been withheld within these documents as they are considered personal information under s.40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

4. Please share detail of any tool which the UKSA uses to track and collate data on whistleblowing by Department Staff.

Whistleblowing concerns need to be reported to the HR Function and Performance and recorded on an internal casework management system. These are collated quarterly and provided to Cabinet Office.

5. Please advise of the total number of whistleblowing incidents in the UKSA since 1 April 2014 until the present time. Please give a breakdown by each financial year of the numbers of whistleblowing incidents in each year.

No records are available for prior to October 15.

• 1 Oct 15 to 31 March 16 - Nil

• 1 April 16 to 31 March 17 - Nil

• 1 April 17 to 31 March 18 – 3

• 1 April 18 to March 19 - 2

6. Please advise if the UKSA has reviewed how well the Nominated Officer system is working, and if so, please share any reports, record of findings or equivalent documents.

A refreshed Whistleblowing Policy was launched in conjunction with whistleblowing awareness day on 21 September 2017, based on the Civil Service model policy. No formal reviews have taken place to evaluate the Nominated Officer system.