The Cabinet Member for Organisation & Workforce meeting was scheduled to discuss an updated Whistleblowing Policy. The meeting was also due to formally sign off the minutes from a previous meeting.

Whistleblowing Policy

The meeting was scheduled to consider revisions to the Council's Whistleblowing Policy. These updates were proposed to align with changes introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025, which came into effect on 6 April 2026. The report pack indicated that the primary change brought about by the Act is the explicit inclusion of sexual harassment as a protected disclosure under the Employment Rights Act 1996. This amendment aims to provide greater clarity for workers and employers, and to encourage more individuals to report instances of sexual harassment in the public interest.

The report pack detailed that whistleblowing is defined as a worker raising a concern about wrongdoing in the public interest. For a disclosure to be protected, a worker must reasonably believe that their disclosure is about one of the categories of wrongdoing listed in the Employment Rights Act 1996, such as a criminal offence or a danger to health and safety, and that the disclosure is in the public interest. The updated policy was intended to ensure the Authority's Whistleblowing policy meets its statutory employment obligations.

The report also noted that constitutional changes implemented in the previous year meant that the monitoring of whistleblowing disclosures no longer falls within the remit of the Standards Committee. It was stated that there were no whistleblowing cases recorded for the monitoring period of April 2025 to March 2026 to report to the Cabinet Member.

The report pack outlined that the policy applies to a wide range of individuals, including employees, casual workers, volunteers, contractors, agency staff, consultants, and voluntary workers for Carmarthenshire County Council. It also clarified what constitutes a whistleblowing concern, including criminal offences, breach of legal obligation, miscarriages of justice, danger to health and safety, damage to the environment, sexual harassment in the workplace, and the deliberate concealment of information relating to these. The policy also referenced the Welsh Government's Code of Practice on Ethical Employment in Supply Chains, covering areas such as modern slavery and unfair employment practices.

The report pack detailed the procedures for raising a concern, including who to contact, such as line managers, dedicated Whistleblowing Officers, or senior officers like the Chief Executive, Wendy Walters, or the Head of Law, Governance and Civil Services, Steve Murphy. It also provided contact details for trade union representatives and external organisations for advice. The pack explained the process that would follow the raising of a concern, including acknowledgement, investigation, and feedback, while emphasising that all disclosures would be treated in confidence and efforts would be made to protect the identity of the whistleblower.

To Sign as a Correct Record the Decision Record of the Meeting Held on the 17th March 2026

The meeting was scheduled to formally sign as a correct record the decision record of the previous meeting held on 17 March 2026. The report pack indicated that this decision record had been previously confirmed at a subsequent meeting.