The Government has this week launched a review of the UK’s current whistleblowing framework with the aim of developing and improving the existing regime and reviewing whether the objectives of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (“PIDA”) are being met. Twenty-five years ago, PIDA was implemented to support wider cultural change on whistleblowing, to recognise the benefits of whistleblowing and to provide a framework for workers to make whistleblowing disclosures and to be protected from detriment and dismissal for doing so.
The existing UK framework
Recently, there has been an increased recognition of the importance of whistleblowing in uncovering wrongdoing, and the need to better protect those who speak up. Underpinning the launch of the Government’s review is the sharp increase in whistleblowing disclosures received by the Care Quality Commission and Health and Safety Executive during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the publication of data by Protect (the UK’s whistleblowing charity) which revealed that one in four Covid-19 whistleblowers were dismissed between September 2020 and March 2021.
Scope of the Government’s review
The Government’s press release identifies three central topics for review, as follows.
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