What is Whistleblowing?

The University is committed to honesty, integrity, openness and accountability and we expect our community to maintain high standards. However, all organisations face the risk of things going wrong or of unknowingly harbouring illegal or unethical conduct. A culture of openness and accountability is essential to prevent such situations occurring or addressing them when they do occur.

The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 exists to provide protection to individuals who disclose information, which in their reasonable belief, is in the public interest and tends to show specified types of malpractice, wrongdoing or dangers at work and study. These disclosures are commonly known as ‘whistleblowing’.

Policy and Procedures

Whistleblowing Policy

The University's Whistleblowing Policy applies to all students, employees, and those who are engaged to work for the University. Its aims are to:

• Encourage students, staff, or anyone contractually connected to the University, to report concerns about a suspected wrongdoing as soon as possible, in the knowledge that concerns will be taken seriously, investigated appropriately, and confidentiality respected.

• Reassure all that genuine concerns can be raised without fear of reprisals, even if they turn out to be mistaken.

Whistleblowing Standard Operating Procedure

The Standard Operating Procedure supports the Whistleblowing Policy and provides step-by-step guidance on how to raise a whistleblowing concern and the subsequent investigation process.

Whistleblowing Report Form

The dedicated web report form can be used to submit whistleblowing disclosures to the Secretary to Council (the designated Whistleblowing Officer). You are encouraged to refer to the Whistleblowing Policy and Standard Operating Procedure and make contact with your Head of Department or Personal Tutor before submitting a disclosure.

All queries related to whistleblowing should be directed to: whistleblowing@warwick.ac.uk