Ref No.: 10 26
Request Type: FOI
Date Received: 01/07/26
Date Responded: 03/07/26
Category: Whistleblowing
Request
I am writing to request the following information under Freedom of Information legislation:
- How many incidences of whistleblowing has Water Industry Commission for Scotland recorded in each of the last five financial years (please break down by year, 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25, 2025/26)?
- Does your whistleblowing policy encourage or direct whistleblowers to raise concerns with a "prescribed person" (as defined under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998)? If so, please specify which prescribed person(s) are referenced.
- Does your whistleblowing policy or process guarantee anonymity to individuals who raise a concern? If so, please provide a copy of the relevant section of the policy addressing this.
- Does your whistleblowing policy include a non-recrimination or non-retaliation provision, protecting whistleblowers from detriment or reprisal as a result of raising a concern? If so, please provide a copy of the relevant section of the policy addressing this.
- Has your internal whistleblowing policy been subject to any external review, audit, or assessment (by an external body, auditor, regulator, or independent consultant) within the last five years? If so, please provide:
- the name of the body/organisation that conducted the review;
- the date of the review; and
- a copy of any resulting report or summary of findings, subject to any applicable exemptions.
Response
Many thanks for your request for information dated 1 July 2026 which asked for:
- How many incidences of whistleblowing has Water Industry Commission for Scotland recorded in each of the last five financial years (please break down by year, 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25, 2025/26)?
- Does your whistleblowing policy encourage or direct whistleblowers to raise concerns with a "prescribed person" (as defined under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998)? If so, please specify which prescribed person(s) are referenced.
- Does your whistleblowing policy or process guarantee anonymity to individuals who raise a concern? If so, please provide a copy of the relevant section of the policy addressing this.
- Does your whistleblowing policy include a non-recrimination or non-retaliation provision, protecting whistleblowers from detriment or reprisal as a result of raising a concern? If so, please provide a copy of the relevant section of the policy addressing this.
- Has your internal whistleblowing policy been subject to any external review, audit, or assessment (by an external body, auditor, regulator, or independent consultant) within the last five years? If so, please provide:
- the name of the body/organisation that conducted the review;
- the date of the review; and
- a copy of any resulting report or summary of findings, subject to any applicable exemptions.
We have handled your request in line with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA). FOISA provides for a right of access to recorded information held by Scottish public authorities.
We disclose the following information to you in response to your request:
Question 1: How many incidences of whistleblowing has Water Industry Commission for Scotland recorded in each of the last five financial years (please break down by year, 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25, 2025/26)?
Internal whistleblowing |
External whistleblowing |
||||||||
2021-22 |
2022-23 |
2023-24 |
2024-25 |
2025-26 |
2021-22 |
2022-23 |
2023-24 |
2024-25 |
2025-26 |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Question 2: Does your whistleblowing policy encourage or direct whistleblowers to raise concerns with a "prescribed person" (as defined under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998)? If so, please specify which prescribed person(s) are referenced.
The following prescribed bodies are referenced at appendix 1 in our internal whistleblowing policy:
- Broadcasting and Communications (OfCom)
- Accounts Commission for Scotland
- The Auditor General for Scotland
- Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life Scotland
- HMRC
- SEPA
- HSE
The following prescribed bodies are referenced at section 5 of our external whistleblowing policy which is available on our website.
- Audit Scotland
- The Accounts Commission
- The Auditor General
Question 3: Does your whistleblowing policy or process guarantee anonymity to individuals who raise a concern? If so, please provide a copy of the relevant section of the policy addressing this.
Please find the relevant extract from our internal whistleblowing policy below:
Section 7: Confidentiality:
WICS will treat all disclosures under this policy in a sensitive manner. WICS hopes staff will be able to raise their concerns openly under this policy but if the individual reporting the concern (i.e. the whistleblower) wants to raise their concern confidentially, WICS will make every effort to keep their identity confidential insofar as this is compatible with making an effective investigation into the allegations which are the subject of the disclosure. The investigation process may however have to reveal the source of the information, and the individual making the disclosure may need to make a statement as part of the evidence.
Section 9: Anonymous allegations
Individuals are encouraged to put their name to any disclosure they make since part of its purpose is to promote openness without fear of reprisals. People need to have trust in the policy and procedure and report their concerns directly and stand by these. Concerns raised anonymously are much less powerful, difficult (sometimes impossible) to investigate and are far less capable of being addressed, but they will be considered at WICS’s discretion. In exercising this discretion WICS will take account of such matters as:
- The seriousness of the issues raised
- The credibility of the concern
- The likelihood of confirming the allegation from alternative credible and/or attributable sources.
Separately, please refer to section 3 and section 4 of our external whistleblowing policy which is available from our website.
Question 4: Does your whistleblowing policy include a non-recrimination or non-retaliation provision, protecting whistleblowers from detriment or reprisal as a result of raising a concern? If so, please provide a copy of the relevant section of the policy addressing this
Please find the relevant extract from our internal whistleblowing policy below:
Section 6: Safeguards
Protection is provided under the policy provided that:
- The disclosure is being made in the public interest by a person who falls within the scope set out at Section 3 above and
- The person making the disclosure is doing so in the reasonable belief that the information made available tends to show wrongdoing
No individual reporting a disclosure under this policy should suffer any detrimental treatment as a result of raising a concern, either from the organisation or from individual (s) who may be at the centre of allegations.
Detrimental treatment includes dismissal, disciplinary action, threats or other unfavourable treatment connected with raising a concern. If someone who has raised a concern believes they have suffered any such treatment, they should report it immediately to HR.
Separately please refer to section 3 and 4 of our external whistleblowing policy which is available to you from our website.
Question 5: Has your internal whistleblowing policy been subject to any external review, audit, or assessment (by an external body, auditor, regulator, or independent consultant) within the last five years? If so, please provide (a) the name of the body/organisation that conducted the review; (b) the date of the review; and (c) a copy of any resulting report or summary of findings, subject to any applicable exemptions.
Our internal whistleblowing policy was subject to an internal audit review in April 2025 by Azets. The following recommendations were highlighted by Azet's report and have now been implemented and incorporated into the internal whistleblowing policy:
- Management should develop a comprehensive internal whistleblowing policy that is aligned with best practice.
- Management should implement a formal review cycle for whistleblowing policies, with clearly assigned responsibility, to ensure they are reviewed and updated regularly in line with legislation and best practice.
- When developing the Internal Whistleblowing Policy, reference to staff being able to raise concerns with internal audit and external audit should be included.
- Management should clearly define and document roles and responsibilities for whistleblowing within WICS and this should be reflected within both the internal and external whistleblowing policies.
- WICS need to improve the whistleblower protections in place to enable individuals to raise concerns without fear of retaliation or being identified. In particular, the revised whistleblowing policies should clearly set out the specific protections available to individuals making a protected disclosure in line with the Public Interest Disclosure Act.
- Management should document a robust investigation process in both the internal and external whistleblowing policies that includes clear responsibilities, steps and established timeframes.
- Management should expand reporting on whistleblowing to include all concerns raised internally, including those assessed as not requiring to follow the whistleblowing policy.
- Management should update both internal and external whistleblowing policies to include clear expectations for communication with whistleblowers including expected timeframes for acknowledging reports, providing updates during investigations and delivering outcomes.
If you are unhappy with this response to your request, you may ask us to carry out a review by contacting us. Your request for review should explain why you are dissatisfied and should be made within 40 working days of receipt of this response. The review will be undertaken by staff not involved in the original process and we will reply within 20 working days of receipt.
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner (SIC) and thereafter to the Court of Session on a point of law only. The SIC can be contacted using the details below:
Scottish Information Commissioner
Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road
St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9DS
Telephone: 01334 464610
Web: www.foi.scot