Whistleblowing
As a purpose-led organisation, the Society values its reputation for honest, ethical behaviour and has in place arrangements to allow employees, contractors, third parties, members, and any member of the public to raise concerns in confidence about possible misconduct, wrongdoing and/or behaviours towards others, including non-financial misconduct.
We treat concerns raised by members, third parties or members of the public the same as any concerns raised by our own colleagues.
Colleague awareness
We provide annual, mandatory training and awareness to all our colleagues to ensure they’re aware of their responsibilities with regards to Whistleblowing and check regularly on progress. All colleagues who support the Whistleblowing process at the Society are provided with additional training on how best to undertake an investigation into any whistleblowing concerns that have been raised, irrespective of who has raised the concern.
Additionally, our annual training includes information on how our colleagues can raise a whistleblowing concern directly with the Financial Conduct Authority or Prudential Regulation Authority, without first reporting internally.
How to raise a concern
Concerns can be raised through a variety of channels. All concerns will be treated confidentially, the reporter can raise their concerns anonymously if they so wish and no attempt will be made to try and identify them.
Any queries/concerns/complaints relating to service issues should be raised through the normal contact routes.
However, should the concern relate to one of the following:
- possible misconduct
- wrongdoing and/or behaviours towards others, including non-financial misconduct.
The channels for raising a concern are:
Call
Online
Write to
The whistleblowing team stays in touch and supports those individuals who raise concerns. Additionally, the Society will not treat anybody differently and will take appropriate actions against anyone who does so. We treat any act of retaliation as a disciplinary matter.
All concerns raised are investigated thoroughly, fairly and in accordance with our Whistleblowing Policy and Whistleblowing Procedures. All investigations follow a robust governance and decision-making process with senior leaders from across the Society meeting regularly to agree and oversee the outcome of investigations. If we find evidence of wrongdoing, we will take further action in accordance with our People policies and processes.
We have appointed a Whistleblowers' Champion to oversee the entire Whistleblowing process at the Society and they are an Independent Non-Executive Director. We also provide the Board with an annual report on the effectiveness of our whistleblowing processes and provide visibility of any themes and trends from the concerns raised.
