Department for Business and Trade confirms it has hired private contractor Grant Thornton to undertake a review of UK whistleblowing law

Dr Minh Alexander NHS whistleblower and retired consultant psychiatrist, 4 August 2023

I posted earlier this week a disturbing report that the government had hired Grant Thornton management accountants to review UK whistleblowing law.

At that point, Grant Thornton would not confirm or deny that this was the case.

Grant Thornton have a history of being repeatedly fined for breaching audit standards.

The UK Financial Reporting Council lists some of its sanctions against Grant Thornton.   The decision notices and related documents about some of the breaches for which the FRC has fined Grant Thornton can be found through these links:   05 November 2021 Sports Direct International plc   10 August 2021 Interserve plc   29 July 2021 Patisserie Holdings plc   26 March 2020 Conviviality Retail plc   05 November 2019 A publicly listed company   09 July 2018 Nichols plc and the University of Salford 29 March 2017 AssetCo plc

Grant Thornton sell whistleblowing compliance services and arguably have a conflict of interest in also reviewing UK whistleblowing law.

The company also had a prior association with the controversial Whistleblowing APPG and its disturbing secretariat, the private company Whistleblowers UK.

Both leading members of the Whistleblowing APPG and WhistleblowersUK have advocated for financial incentivisation of whistleblowing. They have campaigned for an Office of the Whistleblower mirroring the US Office of the Whistleblower rewards programme operated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Latterly, WhistleblowersUK explicitly advocated for whistleblower rewards in a joint paper with US bounty hunting law firms:

Qui Tam. A tale of malicious informants and corruption in ye Olde England. And its evolution to the modern bounty hunting model

The main beneficiaries of the US bounty hunting model are lawyers and other middle men. The system may reward criminals who inform on other criminals. The majority of genuine whistleblowers get nothing. The model can be described as an exploitative, regulatory equivalent of the Hunger Games.

Grant Thornton and WhistleblowersUK co-hosted an event about the future of whistleblowing just four days before the government announced its review of UK whistleblowing law on 27 March 2023. At this event, rewards for whistleblowers were discussed.

Kevin Hollinrake the junior minister who launched the review of UK whistleblowing law is a pro bounty, former member of the Whistleblowing APPG.

The government said it would seek evidence from whistleblowers as part of its review, but it has not publicly provided any means of submitting evidence, despite making contact with some interested parties.

Is there a foregone conclusion at the back of the government’s review?

More details of these matters can be found here:

Has the UK government put a review of UK whistleblowing law in the hands of management accountants Grant Thornton?

Confirmation of Grant Thornton’s appointment

An NHS whistleblower Clare Sardari @SardariClare contacted Sara Wallin the civil servant who was reportedly the contact for the whistleblowing law review, to ask for confirmation of Grant Thornton’s appointment and how the review would be conducted.

This was the surprisingly swift reply, which confirmed that Grant Thornton have been hired:

“From: REDACTED 
Date: Fri, 4 Aug 2023 at 11:16
Subject: RE: Whistleblowing Law Review
To: REDACTED

Dear Ms Sardari,

Thank you for your email.

The Department for Business and Trade announced a review of the whistleblowing framework earlier this year (March 2023) and published the Terms of Reference, which set out that the aims of the review are to examine the effectiveness of the whistleblowing framework in meeting its original objectives. 

We have been making preparation for the review to consist of a research project which will provide an up-to-date evidence base to inform government about policy choices. As you are aware, we have recently appointed Grant Thornton UK LLP to conduct the Research Study to Understand the Effectiveness of the Whistleblowing Framework in Great Britain.

The research study will include a review of recent academic and relevant literature, examine and analyse data related to employment tribunals and whistleblowing reporting by prescribed bodies, and undertake several interviews and focus groups with various stakeholder groups to gather and hear a broad range of perspectives, views and experiences surrounding whistleblowing. The research will produce an evidence-based set of observations and themes related to the objectives of the existing legislation. These will be put to government to consider when assessing the effectiveness of the existing whistleblowing framework in meeting its intended objectives. Grant Thornton UK LLP will not be making policy proposals for the whistleblowing framework but may synthesise the evidence related to potential areas for reform.  

As part of the research, Grant Thornton will be engaging directly with key individuals, bodies and organisations with insight and experience of whistleblowing.

I hope this is helpful.

Best wishes,

Sara”

[Sara Wallin, Department of Business and Trade]

Moreover, I have received correspondence which variously states that some parties had already reportedly met with the Department, had been informed of Grant Thornton’s appointment to lead the law review, and have made arrangements for contact with Grant Thornton.

I will report more on this later.

I would encourage all whistleblowers who are opposed to the US bounty hunting industry’s, the Whistleblowing APPG’s and WhistleblowersUK’s attempts to import an iniquitous and failed bounty model to the UK to write to the Department for Business and Trade to voice objections.

The direct email address for Sara Wallin is: sara.wallin@beis.gov.uk

Her team are contactable on: whistleblowing.framework.review@beis.gov.uk

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The longest established UK whistleblowing organisation, Protect, told me that they were not aware of Grant Thornton’s appointment.

But then, they are not wholehearted supporters of bounties, and do not agree with the Whistleblowing APPG’s and WhistleblowersUK’s attempts to deputise ALL citizens as “whistleblowers” who can earn money as informants, as opposed to genuine whistleblowers who have taken the serious risk of raising concerns related to their employment.

Protect’s reply:

Let us hope the government is not cherry picking who gets to submit evidence.

This is a follow up post of 10 August 2023 on these matters:

The government’s outsourced and so far inaccessible review of UK whistleblowing law: The Players

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The Whistleblowing Hunger Games: Why we should reject the Whistleblowing APPG

New research: US bounty hunting model, cronyism and the revolving door between regulators and bounty hunting law firms

Whistleblowing v Bounty hunting. A new whistleblowing APPG with sponsorship from bounty hunters

WhistleblowersUK’s new financial contract with whistleblowers

Qui Tam. A tale of malicious informants and corruption in ye Olde England. And its evolution to the modern bounty hunting model

Tory MP Kevin Hollinrake who called for whistleblower “incentives” is now in a ministerial role, launching a review of UK whistleblowing law

A tweet by the Minister when he was on the back benches: