Safecall, the council’s external whistle-blowing service for staff to bring forward allegations of misconduct and malpractice, received 21 new disclosures between October and December, a report to councillors reveals.
It is more than double the number of complaints made in any of the other reporting quarters, with seven made from January to March, eight from July to September and seven from July to September.
The surge in the final quarter could in part be linked to the publication of two independent reports which looked at the council’s organisational culture and whistle-blowing procedures, carried out by Susanne Tanner, QC.
The first report, released in October, sought to determine how the behaviour of former senior social worker Sean Bell, who was exposed as a serial abuser prior to his death whilst facing criminal charges in 2020, went unchallenged for so long.
It was revealed that Mr Bell had been protected by an “old boys network” and Ms Tanner urged the council to review its sexual abuse policy and establish a dedicated investigations unit to look into all allegations in relation to employees of a sexual nature, domestic abuse, physical violence, harassment or stalking.
A second inquiry was commissioned off the back of the findings to review the council’s overall...
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