Report fraud, corruption and workplace concerns

Sometimes you may have concerns about something that is happening at work. This is known as ‘whistleblowing’. 

This can include concerns about: 

• bribery 
• fraud or other criminal activity 
• miscarriages of justice 
• health and safety risks 
• damage to the environment 
• breaches of legal or professional obligations 
• sexual harassment

Personal grievances 

Personal grievances (for example problems with working relationships or employment contract terms and conditions) are not covered by the whistleblowing process. 

You can report these under the council’s re​​solution process. 

Who to tell and what to expect 

In the first instance, you are encouraged to raise your concern with your line manager. 

If you do not feel comfortable raising the concern with your line manager, you may raise it with:  

• ​​a more senior manager 
• People Support using the Assyst portal  
• the council's monitoring officer 
• EthicsPoint, our anonymous whistleblowing website 

Alternatively, if you are reporting concerns about a potential fraud or corruption, you may wish to contact the counter fraud team to report a concern about fraud or corruption.

You can raise a concern anonymously. You can also give your name but request confidentiality. The person or team you tell should make every effort to protect your identity. 

Your concerns will be listened to and the person or team you tell will decide if any action needs to be taken. You may be asked for further information. 

​​You can find more information in the council’s whistleblowing standards (PDF, 150KB) and whistleblowing policy (PDF, 100KB). 

Find out more about the law and whistleblowing for employees on GOV.UK. 

EthicsPoint  

If you feel unable to raise your concerns with anyone in the council, you can contact EthicsPoint. 

EthicsPoint is an independent external whistleblowing provider that delivers the council’s Speak up! service. It will record your concern confidentially and send a report to the relevant person in the council to investigate. 

To raise your concern by phone:

1. Phone 0800 89 0011. 
2. When prompted, enter code 833-626-151 and you will be transferred to an automated menu. 

You can call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and speak in confidence to a fully trained hotline operator. 

To raise your concern online:

Go to EthicsPoint and follow the steps for reporting a concern. 

Try to provide as much detail as you can so your concern can be investigated, including dates, times and names wherever possible.