Services Provided

Whistle Blowing Service

Does your organisation have any of the following objectives?

If so we offer the following Whistle Blowing services:

• Access to a confidential & secure site where any person belonging to or connected with your organisation can raise concerns about impropriety or malpractice without fear of recrimination or reprisal. Disclosures can be made anonymously and without having direct contact with anyone in your organisation.
• If you are a small organisations access to the service can be via our website or for larger organisations bespoke access can be added to your own website.
• Access to a dedicated hotline and email where anyone not wishing to use the online facility can still raise a concern.
• Initial vetting and clarifications (when possible) of disclosures by our team who have many years of Informant and Whistle Blower handling experience prior to dissemination to your nominated focal point(s).
• Subsequent investigation of any allegations.
• Assistance in ensuring the message that your organisation is committed to tackling malpractice and impropriety is properly disseminated to everyone connected with your organisation.
• Assistance in ensuring that everyone connected with your organisation is fully aware of the existence of the Whistle Blowing facility and how it works.

About Whistle Blowing

What is a Whistle Blower?

A Whistle Blower is a person who raises a concern about wrongdoing such as breaches of integrity or fraud occurring in an organisation or body of people.

In the Corporate Sector most Whistle Blowers are internal, reporting misconduct about a fellow employee or superior within their Company. Additionally clients, sub-contractors or any other person having dealings with an organisation may also blow the whistle.

Why does your organisation need a robust Whistle Blowing Facility?

The most common method of detecting fraud or breaches of integrity within an organisation is by a tip usually via a Whistle Blowing facility. However many people do not blow the whistle because of fear of reprisal or recrimination. This is why it is vital for organisations to have a secure Whistle Blowing facility whereby a person can blow the whistle anonymously and / or confidentially.

Detecting fraud saves money and reduces the possibilities of reputational damage.

Robust Fraud Prevention procedures help increase the confidence of investors, partners and others connected with your business.

To demonstrate your organisation is committed to preventing bribery & corruption and therefore increase the likelihood of a successful defence if faced with prosecution under the Bribery Act 2010 for 'failing to prevent bribery'.

Many organisations have a Whistle Blowing hotline but this is often manned by untrained individuals known to the Whistle Blower, In general these types of hotlines are rarely used.

Protection for Whistle Blowers

The Public Disclosure Act 1998 allows employees to voice concerns in good faith about misconduct and malpractice without receiving penalties such as dismissal, victimisation, or denial of promotion, facilities or training opportunities. Almost all workers in the public, private, and voluntary sectors including contractors are protected under this Act. Certain types of disclosures as listed below qualify for protection if they are made in good faith and it is reasonable to believe that the misconduct was occurring now, happened in the past or will likely happen in the future.

• A criminal offence
• Failure to comply with legal obligations
• A miscarriage of justice
• Danger to health or safety of any individual
• Damage to the environment
• Attempt to cover up information that would provide evidence that any of these five practices occurred

For more information on the Public Disclosure Act 1998, click here.

Confidentiality & Security

PC Investigations Limited is fully committed to ensuring the confidentiality and security of any information passed to us by clients from any source.

Our dedicated Whistle Blowing web site is protected by SSL employing full 128-bit encryption issued by the universally trusted Thawte certificate authority. No cookies or personal information is stored online and will not attempt to trace the source of any disclosure.

PC Investigations Ltd will sign a Confidentiality Agreement / Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) before commencement of this service.

PC Investigations Limited is registered with the Information Commissioners Office under registration number Z2238814 and secures all data in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998.

Please contact us for further information regarding our Whistle Blowing services.