Part one: statement of principles
1. What is the purpose of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998?|
2. What is LSE's policy on standards of public life?|
3. When can the procedure be used?|
4. Who can use the procedure?|
5. What type of protection is given to a Discloser?|
6. What protection is given to subject/s of a disclosure?|
7. If a member of the School knows of malpractice, must s/he disclose it?|
8. What happens if a Discloser changes his or her mind?|
9. Can a disclosure be made outside the School?|
10. Is confidentiality given within the School?|
11. Can anonymous allegations be made?|
12. What constitutes a disciplinary offence?|
Part two: procedure
1. Purpose|
2. How to make a disclosure under the Procedure|
3. How the School will deal with a disclosure|
4. Recommendation by the Assessment Officer|
5. Decision by the Disclosure Officer|
6. Internal Appeal|
7. Report to officers and committees of the School|
8. Safeguards|
9. Periodic Review of the Procedure|
1. What is the purpose of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998?
1.1 The Public Interest Disclosure Act, which mainly takes the form of amendments to the Employment Rights Act 1996, gives legal protection to employees against being dismissed or penalised by their employers as a result of disclosing information which is considered to be in the public interest. The LSE procedure, as for other UK universities, is intended to follow the Act, but extends its protection to students, and other members of the School as described in section 4.1 below.
1.2 The principle, which the School endorses, is that where an individual discovers information that he or she believes to show malpractice/wrongdoing within the organisation, then this information should be disclosed without fear of reprisal. This should be facilitated by an internal procedure for Public Interest Disclosures in order that the person making the disclosure be afforded proper protection and that the information may be acted upon quickly and matters resolved internally or, in accordance with Part IVA of the Employment Rights Act 1996, by an external body listed in Section 9 of Part One of this Procedure.
1.3 Public interest disclosure for the purpose of the procedure is defined as the disclosure of information to the effect that School business has been, is being, or is likely to be the subject of malpractice. Malpractice indicates wrongdoing, including illegality; but this procedure goes beyond the Public Interest Disclosure Act in also extending to conduct that could be considered unethical.
2. What is LSE's policy on standards of public life?
2.1 The LSE is committed to the highest standards of integrity, openness and accountability. It seeks to conduct its affairs in a responsible and transparent manner, taking into account the requirements of the funding bodies and the standards in public life set out in the reports of the Nolan Committee. In line with its commitment to these standards and with other UK universities, the School is committed to the provision of a procedure to facilitate disclosures within the terms of the Public Interest Disclosure Act.
3. Who can use the procedure?
3.1 Those people listed in 3.2 are encouraged to use this policy to raise genuine concerns about malpractice at the earliest opportunity.
3.2 This Procedure is open to those people defined below:
3.2.1 Governors of the School
3.2.2 Current employees of the School including casual and agency employees
3.2.3 Staff working for departments of the School who may not be formally employed by the School
3.2.4 Students of the School
3.2.5 Those individuals who have been given official status in the School who are not employees or students of the School, such as: Honorary Fellows, Academic Visitors, Research Scholars, Research Fellows, Professors and Readers Emeriti
3.2.6 Providers of goods and services for the School.
3.3 A person making a disclosure under this procedure is described as a 'Discloser' for the purposes of this Procedure. A Discloser may make a disclosure under this Procedure whether or not s/he is personally affected by the alleged malpractice.
3.4 Employees of subsidiary companies of LSE may make public interest disclosures about malpractice anywhere in the School but should make Public Interest Disclosures about malpractice in their own subsidiary company through the public interest disclosure procedure approved by that company's board of directors or in accordance with Part IVA of the Employment Rights Act 1996.
4. When can the procedure be used?
4.1 Some examples of malpractice, which may be the subject of a protected public interest disclosure, are:
4.1.1 Financial malpractice, financial impropriety, or fraud
4.1.2 A breach of any of the School's regulations and procedures
4.1.3 Failure to observe statutory obligations
4.1.4 Endangering health and safety, including exposure to stress (i.e. "the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed on them").
4.1.5 Damaging the environment
4.1.6 Criminal (or likely criminal) activity at the School
4.1.7 Corruption, bribery, blackmail
4.1.8 Deliberate miscarriage of justice
4.1.9 Academic malpractice
4.1.10 Professional malpractice
4.1.11 Abuse of authority for illegal or unethical purposes
4.1.12 Wilful failure to declare a relevant interest in the Register of Interests
4.1.13 Deliberate concealment of any of the above.
4.2 The public interest disclosure procedure is not intended to cover complaints for which there are existing procedures, such as:
4.2.1 Disagreements about the substance of School policy
4.2.2 Matters of individual discipline
4.2.3 Staff and student grievances, including complaints about standard of teaching and tuition
4.2.4 Complaints about poor standards of service or mismanagement
4.2.5 Bullying or harassment on grounds of age, gender, race, religion, sex and sexual orientation
4.2.6 Equal opportunity complaints
4.2.7 Matters covered by the School's Code of Practice on Free Speech
4.2.8 Complaints about running of the Students' Union under the 1994 Education Act.
4.3 If, after an initial investigation by an Assessment Officer, an issue is found not to constitute a public interest disclosure under this Procedure, consideration will be given to transferring the matter to other, more appropriate, procedures. A Disclosure Officer will make the decision to transfer the matter to other procedures.
5. What type of protection is given to a discloser?
5.1 If he or she complies in full with this procedure, the Discloser will:
5.1.1 be protected as far as possible from their identity being revealed, provided that it does not hinder an investigation or result in unfairness (or potential unfairness) to any other party who may be affected by the implementation of this procedure. Sometimes, the type of information revealed may be such that it enables the identity of the Discloser to be inferred;
5.1.2 be protected from reprisal or unfair treatment attributable to the making of the disclosure. This type of protection includes the careful consideration of 'counter' disclosures that might be used to cancel out or hinder the investigation of a disclosure. Usually the investigation into one disclosure will be completed before a 'counter' disclosure is accepted;
5.1.3 wherever possible, be kept informed at all stages of the procedure by the Assessment Officer;
5.1.4 select which Assessment Officer s/he wishes to approach. The selected Assessment Officer will have had no prior involvement in the issue disclosed;
5.1.5 be assured that any malpractice will be thoroughly but quickly investigated.
6. What protection is given to subject/s of a disclosure?
6.1 The School will protect the identity of the subject/s of a public interest disclosure as described in paragraph 5.1 above as far as practicably possible. Under the Public Interest Disclosure Procedure, the subject will have the right to respond to a disclosure, remain silent and have representation. If a person chooses to remain silent, the School reserves the right to investigate the disclosure by any means at its disposal. The Assessment Officer will regularly inform the subject/s of a disclosure of the progress of the case on at least a weekly basis.
6.2 In instances of a vexatious or malicious disclosure, or one not made in good faith, being made, the School authorities will consider the possibility of remedial action to redress the adverse consequences suffered by the victim of that disclosure.
7. If a member of the school knows of alleged malpractice, must s/he disclose it?
7.1 The spirit of the procedure is to protect individuals who wish to make a disclosure in the interest of the public and of the School. It does not constitute an obligation to disclose information. It affords protection to an individual who wishes to disclose information, thus enabling the School to deal with cases of alleged malpractice.
8. What happens if a discloser changes his or her mind?
8.1 The Discloser may withdraw a disclosure at any point during an investigation, provided the request is submitted in writing to the Assessment Officer and explains the reasons behind the request.
8.2 The School reserves the right to proceed with an investigation, and take action in the light of its findings, even if the Discloser does not wish to proceed further.
9. Disclosures made outside the school
9.1 A disclosure should only be made to an external person or body where either that person or body is an appropriate prescribed person under section 43F of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (see para 9.2.4 below) or it is made in accordance with section 43G of that Act (see para 9.3 below).
9.2 The School will not subject an individual to detriment if s/he makes a disclosure externally provided that:
9.2.1 the disclosure concerns malpractice; and
9.2.2 the discloser is acting in good faith and believes that the information contained in the disclosure is substantially true; and
9.2.3 the disclosure is not made for personal gain; and
9.2.4 the disclosure is made either:
(i) to an appropriate external person or body such as the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), the Government Department with responsibility for Higher Education, the National Audit Office or a Member of Parliament; or
(ii) to a person or body prescribed for the purposes of section 43F of the Employment Rights Act 1996 in respect of the matters specified in the Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Persons) Order 1999, S.I.1999 No. 1549, as amended.
9.3 The School recognises that the law provides protection for disclosers who make disclosures to a person outside the School in the circumstances set out in section 43G of the Employment Rights Act 1996. In summary, the conditions which have to be satisfied in order for a disclosure to attract this protection are as follows:
9.3.1 the disclosure is made in good faith; and
9.3.2 the discloser reasonably believes that the information disclosed and any allegation contained in it are substantially true; and
9.3.3 the disclosure is not made for the purposes of personal gain; and
9.3.4 (i) the discloser reasonably believes that s/he will be subject to detriment by the School if s/he makes a disclosure either within the School or in accordance with 9.2 above; or
(ii) in a case where no person or body is prescribed in the Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Persons) Order, the discloser reasonably believes that it is likely that the evidence relating to the relevant failure will be concealed or destroyed if s/he makes a disclosure within the School; or
(iii) the discloser has previously made a disclosure of the same information either within the School or in accordance with the Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Persons) Order.
9.4 Where a disclosure has been made within the School under this procedure, the discloser should not reveal any part of that disclosure to a person outside the School except to either a professionally qualified lawyer or trade union representative for the purpose of taking legal advice.
9.5 In certain circumstances the School may be obliged to report the substance of a disclosure to HEFCE, the police or some other appropriate public body. Wherever possible, the consent of the discloser will be sought before any such report is made.
10. Is confidentiality given within the School?
10.1 The School will treat the identity of a Discloser and the identity of the subject/s of a disclosure as confidential (subject to 5.1.1. above), unless the School's officers in consequence become legally obliged to reveal their identity.
10.2 Records of the disclosure and all proceedings related to it will be kept by The Secretary and Director of Administration. The School will reveal these records to other parties only in accordance with its internal procedures and/or current legislation. Whenever possible, the consent of the Discloser will be sought before records are revealed.
11. Can anonymous allegations be made?
11.1 Disclosers will be expected to put their name to their disclosures; care will be taken to protect their identity as provided for in this procedure. Anonymous disclosures will be considered if a Disclosure Officer thinks anonymity is warranted because of:
11.1.1 the gravity of the issues raised; and/or
11.1.2 the amount and quality of evidence provided; and/or
11.1.3 the existence of alternative credible sources that confirm the allegation.
12. What constitutes a disciplinary offence?
12.1 Under the Procedure, it may be a disciplinary offence to:
12.1.1 make a disclosure found by a Disclosure Officer to be vexatious or malicious or not made in good faith; or
12.1.2 to make a disclosure with the intention of gaining a pecuniary advantage; or
12.1.3 make an external disclosure other than in accordance with Paragraph 9 above (which reflects Sections 43D-43G of the Employment Rights Act 1996).
1. Purpose
1.1 The following section sets out detailed the procedure for investigating a public interest disclosures. Part One provides guidance on the principles underpinning the School's arrangements for considering public interest disclosures.
2. How to make a disclosure under the procedure
2.1 Public interest disclosures should be submitted in writing to, and/or by meeting, one of the following designated Assessment Officers:
Deputy Secretary, Director of Business Continuity
Andrew Webb: a.webb@lse.ac.uk| , 4959
The Academic Registrar
Simeon Underwood: s.underwood@lse.ac.uk|, 6858
The Directors of Estates
Julian Robinson: j.s.robinson@lse.ac.uk|, 7082
Alan Blair: a.blair1@lse.ac.uk|, 6748
The Director of Finance and Facilities
Andrew Farrell: a.farrell@lse.ac.uk|, 7091
The Director of Finance Division
Mike Ferguson: m.ferguson@lse.ac.uk|, 7094
The Internal Auditor
Craig White: craig.wright@bdo.co.uk|, 0161 833 8392
The Director of Research Division
David Coombe: d.coombe@lse.ac.uk|, 7114
The Director of Library Services
Elizabeth Chapman: e.chapman@lse.ac.uk|, 7218
The Dean of Undergraduate Studies
Dr Jan Stockdale: j.stockdale@lse.ac.uk|, 7058
The Dean of Graduate Studies
Dr Sunil Kumar: s.kumar@lse.ac.uk|, 7574
The Associate Dean of General Course Studies
Mr Mark Hoffman: gc.dean@lse.ac.uk|, 5197
Three nominees of the Academic Board:
TBC: please contact Kevin Haynes on 7823.
Note: Disclosures that are made by, or against, a senior member of the School's staff - i.e. at, or above, the level of Head of Division in the Central Administration, or, Head of an Academic Department - should be made to the Director of the School. Upon receipt of the Disclosure, the Director will select a senior member of the School (normally the Secretary & Director of Administration) to act as Assessment Officer. The nominated Assessment Officer shall follow the Procedure below but must present his/her findings to the Director, who will act as Disclosure Officer and decide on an appropriate course of action.
2.2 The Assessment Officer will be the point of contact for the Discloser throughout the procedure. S/he will conduct an investigation into the disclosure and will submit a report of his/her findings, including a recommendation of how best to proceed with the case, to a Disclosure Officer (listed in 3.7 below).
2.3 The Discloser can make his/her disclosure in writing and/or by meeting with his/her chosen Assessment Officer. If a meeting occurs, the Assessment Officer may be accompanied by a note-taker, and the Discloser by a person of his or her choice.
2.4 The written disclosure or meeting needs to address the following points:
2.4.1 the nature of the disclosure;
2.4.2 evidence to substantiate the disclosure;
2.4.3 names of those alleged to be involved in malpractice.
3. How the school will deal with a disclosure
3.1 The Assessment Officer who receives a disclosure may consult another Assessment Officer for advice and support provided the latter individual is not named in the disclosure and no conflict of interest exists.
3.2 The Assessment Officer will:
3.2.1 consider whether more suitable procedures exist in the School;
3.2.2 consider whether a conflict of interest arises from the involvement of any of the Disclosure Officers specified in paragraph 3.4 below;
3.2.3 ensure the Discloser understands and is familiar with the School procedures for a public interest disclosure and the requirements of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998.
3.3 The Assessment Officer will conduct an investigation into the disclosure and, wherever possible, update the Discloser on the course of events. The Assessment Officer will also interview the subject/s of a disclosure, who may be accompanied by a person of his/her/their choice provided that person is a member of the School and will maintain strict confidentiality about the substance of the disclosure and the identity of all parties involved;
3.4 The Assessment Officer will submit a report of his/her findings to a Disclosure Officer of his/her choice that has had no prior involvement in the Disclosure, recommending in the light of his/her investigation how to proceed with the case, and under which of the School's procedure. Upon receiving the Assessment Officer's report, the Disclosure Officer shall decide how to proceed with the disclosure and under which of the School's procedures. The Disclosure Officers are:
The three Pro-Directors; The two Vice Chairs of the Court of Governors and Council; The Vice Chair of the Appointments Committee. 4. Recommendation by the assessment officer
4. Recommendation by the assessment officer
4.1 The Assessment Officer will investigate the disclosure as quickly and thoroughly as possible, and submit his/her findings to a Disclosure Officer. The report will describe the response of the subject/s of the disclosure and not name the parties involved. On some occasions, the report will unavoidably contain information that makes it possible to infer the identity of parties involved. In such instances, the Assessment Officer will inform the relevant individuals.
4.2 The Assessment Officer's report to the Disclosure Officer will address the following matters:
4.2.1 whether the disclosure constitutes a protected disclosure under this Procedure;
4.2.2 how, and in what order, to proceed if the disclosure warrants further consideration under this procedure or other School procedures;
4.2.3 whether the School's Public Interest Disclosure Panel (see Section 5.1.5 below) should be convened to consider, and make a decision on, an appropriate course of action to resolve the disclosure under the Procedure;
4.2.4 if the disclosure is not considered to be a protected disclosure, whether the Disclosure Officer should recommend to the Discloser to pursue the matter under some other School procedure such as discipline, grievance or harassment;
4.2.5 whether the Disclosure Officer refer the matter to the Police in the case of a potential criminal offence. Depending on the circumstances, this will not necessarily mean the cessation of an internal LSE inquiry;
4.2.6 whether, and when, the Disclosure Officer inform other external bodies such as the National Audit Office [NAO]; or the Higher Education Funding Council for England [HEFCE] if the matter is required to be reported under the terms of the Financial Memorandum between the School and the HEFCE; or the Department for Education and Skills [DfES];
4.2.7 whether not to proceed with the disclosure, on the grounds that the Assessment Officer is satisfied that there is insufficient information, or that the case is insufficiently clear, or that there are grounds for believing that the disclosure is vexatious, malicious or not made in good faith, or that the Discloser does not have a reasonable belief that malpractice within the meaning of this procedure has occurred or is likely to occur, or that the Discloser.
4.3 The Assessment Officer will also inform the Discloser and other parties involved in the disclosure of his/her recommendations about proceeding with the disclosure.
5. Decision by the disclosure officer
5.1 On receipt of the report from the Assessment Officer, the Disclosure Officer will then decide on an appropriate course of action, within the following range of options:
5.1.1 A decision that no further action of any kind is warranted, because:
malpractice has not been proven; the disclosure has been found to be vexatious or malicious or not made in good faith (in such instances, the School authorities will consider the possibility of remedial action to redress the adverse consequences suffered by the victim of that disclosure); the disclosure has been made with the intention of gaining a pecuniary advantage; the external disclosure has been other than in accordance with Section 9 of this Procedure (which reflects Sections 43C-43G of the Employment Rights Act 1996). the matter is the subject of a criminal investigation;
the matter is already the subject of legal proceedings.
5.1.2 Recommend that the matter should be dealt with by a revision of regulations or procedures, and warrants no further action;
5.1.3 Referral to the Audit Committee;
5.1.4 Referral to other School procedures;
5.1.5 Referral to a Public Interest Disclosure Panel, which shall be drawn by lot from a pool of Lay Governors appointed triennially by the Court of Governors to consider and adjudicate on cases of public interest disclosure referred to it by a Disclosure Officer;
5.1.6 Referral to a relevant outside body; this does not preclude the use of internal procedures to continue an investigation.
5.2 The Disclosure Officer shall inform the Assessment Officer of his/her decision about proceeding with the disclosure. The Assessment Officer will inform all parties involved in the disclosure of the Disclosure Officer's decision.
5.3 Paragraphs 5 and 6 of Part One of the Procedure describes the Disclosure Officer's obligations about confidentiality. There may be occasions when it is necessary to reveal the Discloser's, and/or the subject/s of a disclosure's, identity. In such instances, the relevant parties will be informed.
6. Internal appeal
6.1 The Discloser and/or subject/s of a disclosure may appeal to the Chair of the Court of Governors against the Disclosure Officer's, or the Public Interest Disclosure Panel's (see 5.1.5 above) decision. An appeal must be made in writing and be received by the Chairman within 10 working days of the Assessment Officer's conveying the Disclosure Officer's, or Public Interest Disclosure Panel's, decision to each party involved in the disclosure. An appeal may be for one or more of the following grounds:
Significant procedural defect or material irregularity; Submission of new evidence previously not available or omitted for a significant reason; Other extenuating factor/s.
6.2 The Chairman of Court and Council shall either:
adjudicate on the appeal him/herself; convene a group of Governors not previously involved in the matter to advise him/her; consult Council about the best way to proceed.
6.3 The Chairman of Court and Council's decision on the appeal shall be the final stage of the School's Public Interest Disclosure Procedure.
7. Report to officers and committees of the school
7.1 The findings arising from any public interest disclosure that has reached the stage of investigation by a Disclosure Officer will be reported by the Disclosure Officer or Chair of the Public Interest Disclosure Panel to one or more of the following as appropriate:
7.1.1 The Audit Committee (the minutes of whose meetings are seen by Council);
7.1.2 The Chairman of the Finance & General Purposes Committee, if relevant;
7.1.3 The relevant Heads of Division for implementation of any agreed recommended changes to working practices;
7.1.4 The Director of the School as Principal Officer for accounting purposes;
7.1.5 The Secretary and Director of Administration.
8. Safeguards
8.1 The Discloser must report to the Assessment Officer any instances of unfair treatment that s/he believes himself/herself to have suffered because of his/her disclosure. The Discloser and subject/s of a disclosure must report to the Assessment Officer any breaches of
confidentiality. The Assessment Officer shall inform the Disclosure Officer involved in the case who shall refer the alleged instances of unfair treatment and/or breaches of confidentiality to the appropriate individuals with the recommendation that the relevant School procedure be invoked.
9. Periodic review
9.1 Council shall regularly review the School's Public Interest Disclosure Policy and Procedure, and approve the appointment of the Assessment Officers and Disclosure Officers of this Procedure.
Approved by Council and effective from 27 June 2006
1.1 The Public Interest Disclosure Act, which mainly takes the form of amendments to the Employment Rights Act 1996, gives legal protection to employees against being dismissed or penalised by their employers as a result of disclosing information which is considered to be in the public interest. The LSE procedure, as for other UK universities, is intended to follow the Act, but extends its protection to students, and other members of the School as described in section 4.1 below.
1.2 The principle, which the School endorses, is that where an individual discovers information that he or she believes to show malpractice/wrongdoing within the organisation, then this information should be disclosed without fear of reprisal. This should be facilitated by an internal procedure for Public Interest Disclosures in order that the person making the disclosure be afforded proper protection and that the information may be acted upon quickly and matters resolved internally or, in accordance with Part IVA of the Employment Rights Act 1996, by an external body listed in Section 9 of Part One of this Procedure.
1.3 Public interest disclosure for the purpose of the procedure is defined as the disclosure of information to the effect that School business has been, is being, or is likely to be the subject of malpractice. Malpractice indicates wrongdoing, including illegality; but this procedure goes beyond the Public Interest Disclosure Act in also extending to conduct that could be considered unethical.