Transparency data

Whistleblowing disclosures made to the Charity Commission for England and Wales 2020 to 2021

Published 30 September 2021

Applies to England and Wales

1. The statutory framework

The Charity Commission is a ‘prescribed person’ under the Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Persons Order) 2014, making it the regulatory body for appropriate disclosures on matters relating to ‘the proper administration of charities and funds given, or held, for charitable purposes’.

Whistleblowing law is located in the Employment Rights Act 1996 (as amended by the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998). This provides the statutory framework for employment protections for workers who make a qualifying disclosure (or ‘blow the whistle’) to us about suspected wrongdoing in charities, including crimes and regulatory breaches by their employer.

2. Our functions, objectives and powers

The Charity Commission is the registrar and regulator of charities in England and Wales. Parliament has given us 5 statutory objectives which are to:

• promote compliance by charity trustees with their legal obligations in exercising control and management of their charities
• enhance the accountability of charities to donors, beneficiaries and the general public
• increase public trust and confidence in charities
• promote awareness and understanding of the operation of the public benefit requirement
• promote effective use of charitable resources

Our Risk and Regulatory Framework explains our functions and powers.

3. Our approach to whistleblowing disclosures

Whistleblowing disclosures help us to detect serious problems such as fraud, safeguarding concerns and mismanagement in charities. Whistleblowing therefore plays a valuable role in our regulation of the charity sector. We continue to review and improve our approach to encouraging, receiving and handling disclosures.

In doing so, we take account of Whistleblowing: prescribed persons guidance from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the approach taken by other prescribed persons, specialist guidance and our own experience.

We are likely to treat charity workers and volunteers (including trustees) who raise serious concerns with us about their charity as whistleblowers. Their role within a charity can mean they are well placed to identify and report serious problems.

While volunteers do not have any statutory protections if they report serious concerns to us (unlike workers), we recognise that in other respects they face many of the personal challenges and risks experienced by workers and therefore may require the same sort of engagement from us.

We assess disclosures in line with the regulatory approach set out in our Regulatory and Risk Framework.

This helps ensure that the Commission’s regulatory engagement with charities is proportionate, accountable, consistent, transparent and targeted as required by the Charities Act 2011.

While the framework is written for the wider public, it may also be useful for charity workers and volunteers when considering whistleblowing disclosures to the Commission.

When we receive a whistleblowing disclosure, our assessment depends on what we are told and the severity of the matter. We consider the information disclosed to us, then decide and prioritise what action, if any, to take according to the nature and level of risk.

4. Whistleblowing facts and figures 2020 to 2021

We received 431 ^{[footnote 1]} whistleblowing disclosures in 2020 to 2021. This is a continuing increase compared with previous years as shown below.

Year	Total	% increase year on year
2020/2021	431	74.49%
2019/2020	247	33.50%
2018/2019	185	83.20%
2017/2018	101	14.80%
2016/2017	88	1.10%
2015/2016	87	0.00%

Key findings from 2020 to 2021 disclosures:

• there has been a 75% increase in the number of whistleblowing disclosures compared to the previous reporting period of 2019 to 2020
• the majority of whistleblowing disclosures are from employees (50.8% in 2020-2021 compared with 63.2% in 2019-2020). However, we received increases in whistleblowing disclosures from other sources compared to the previous reporting period. This includes a higher number of whistleblowing disclosures from trustees (20.6% in 2020-2021 compared with 12.5% in 2019-2020). We welcome this as part of the recent change in our approach to whistleblowing and in wanting to hear from a wider range of people associated with charities so we can identify harm at an earlier stage
• the primary issues raised in 2020-2021 were governance (32%), safeguarding (29%) and financial management concerns (28%)

4.1 Source of whistleblowing disclosures

We continue to receive the majority of whistleblowing disclosures from employees (219, 50.8%), which includes current employees and ex-employees. The remaining number being received from ‘non-employees’ (212, or 49.2% in 2020-2021), which includes volunteers, ex-volunteers, trustees and ex-trustees. In 2019-20, 63.2% of whistleblowing disclosures were from employees and 36.8% were from non-employees.

Source	Count
Employee	120
Ex-Employee	99
Trustee	46
Ex-Trustee	44
Ex-Volunteer	42
Volunteer	38
Member	10
Anonymous	8
Accountant	6
Government department	5
Public	4
Other	9

4.2 Charity classification / charity type

Each registered charity is associated with a particular classification code to identify its purpose. The classifications are split into three groups; what the charity does, who the charity helps, and how the charity operates/helps. This classification information is shown on the Register of Charities to inform the public of the work of charities, including to help decisions people make to support the work of a charity through donations or volunteering, or if they are potential beneficiaries of a charity.

What the Charity Does

What the charity does	Total
Education/Training	253
General Charitable Purposes	135
The Advancement of Health and Saving Lives	135
Disability	104
The Prevention of the Relied of Poverty	94
Economic/Community Development/Employment	80
Arts/Culture/Heritage/Science	66
Environment/Conservation/Heritage	60
Other Charitable Purposes	53
Religious Activities	51
Amateur Sport	45
Accommodation/Housing	43
Recreation	43
Animals	37
Human Rights/Religious or Racial Harmony/Equality or Diversity	35
Overseas Aid/Famine Relief	31
Armed Forces/Emergency Service Efficiency	2

Who The Charity Helps

Who the charity helps	Total
The General Public/Mankind	241
Children/Young People	213
People With Disabilities	154
Elderly/Old People	140
Other Defined Groups	109
Other Charities or Voluntary Bodies	101
People of a Particular Ethnic or Racial Origin	56

How the Charity operates/helps

How the charity operates/helps	Total
Provide Services	284
Provides Advocacy/Advice/Information	232
Provides Buildings/Facilities/Open Space	166
Provides Human Resources	115
Makes Grants to Organisations	76
Acts as an Umbrella or Resource Body	73
Sponsors or Undertakes Research	72
Other Charitable Activities	64
Makes Grants to Individuals	60
Provides Other Finance	24

A note that as more than one classification can be attributed by a charity this means that the numbers shown in these tables will be larger than the overall number of individual disclosures (431) that we have received.

4.3 Type of issues raised

When a whistleblowing disclosure is received, we record the type of issue raised with us. More than one issue can be attributed to a single disclosure which means that the numbers shown in the table below is larger than the overall number of individual disclosures received in 2020-2021 (431). In total, 792 issues were recorded across the disclosures, the top three reported issues in 2020 to 2021 were Governance failures and other poor behavior (323), Financial harms (203) and Safeguarding (178). Safeguarding and governance issues cover a wide range of situations and are often linked: for example, governance issues can be significant contributory factors to safeguarding incidents, most specifically when the safeguarding issue concerns a risk to beneficiaries. Other prominent issues being recorded include conflict of interest (74).

Count of all issues reported	Count
Governance failures or other poor behaviour	323
Financial harms	203
Safeguarding and protecting people	178
Conflicts of interest	74
Other	14

Primary issues raised

Our analysis of the primary issue in each of the whistleblowing disclosures reported has shown that the three top issues reported in 2020 to 2021 were: governance failures, safeguarding and protecting people, and financial harms. The predominance of these three types of issue follows a similar pattern to previous reporting over the last five years. We also note that the incidence of issues relating to these top categories increased in 2020/2021 by a greater margin than the annual increases in previous years. Financial Harms more than doubled in the last year. We think the increase in incidence may be linked to the financial challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic coupled with our changed approach to handling whistleblowing disclosures (see section 6 below).

Total primary issue	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21
Governance Failures	57	60	72	109	141
Safeguarding and Protecting People	15	24	89	72	122
Financial Harms	11	8	18	46	121
Other	5	9	6	20	47
Total	88	101	185	247	431

% of primary issue	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21
Governance failures	65%	59%	39%	44%	33%
Safeguarding and protecting people	17%	24%	48%	29%	29%
Financial harms	13%	8%	10%	19%	28%
Other	6%	9%	3%	8%	10%
Total %	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%

Source of disclosure by primary type	Governance failures	Safeguarding and protecting people	Financial harms	Other	Total
Employee	30	38	39	13	120
Ex-Employee	24	34	30	11	99
Trustee	26	7	12	1	46
Ex-Trustee	21	5	13	5	44
Ex-Volunteer	11	20	7	4	42
Volunteer	15	11	7	5	38
Member	6	1	2	1	10
Anonymous	2	4	0	2	8
Accountant	3	0	3	0	6
Government Department	0	0	5	0	5
Public	1	1	1	1	4
Other	2	1	2	4	9
Total	141	122	121	47	431

Similar to last year, governance is the most prominent type of issue – obtaining 141 disclosures. Furthermore, we have seen increased reporting for all types of issues in the last year. This includes reports regarding financial harms, which has risen to 121 this year compared to 46 last year. Financial harms that charities are susceptible to include internal threats from employees or volunteers. These involve financial malpractice, fraudulent diversion of monies and fraudulent applications involving loans.

The other types of issue raised in 2020 to 2021 which are included in ‘Other’ include: conflicts of interest (21), allegations of crime/fraud (17), GDPR breach (5), and alleged extremism or terrorism (2).

4.4 Action we have taken

The action we take is guided by our Regulatory and Risk Framework.

Our assessment of the nature and level of risk of the 431 disclosures led us a range of regulatory action taken by the Commission and we dealt with and closed 312 (72%) cases by the end of the reporting period. We record the outcome and impact we have made with our investigation as we progress.

As shown in the table below, in the majority of incidences the whistleblower’s disclosure led to regulatory action, including: formally checking that trustees were dealing with the issue raised, offering formal regulatory advice, referring matters to other bodies able to take a view or action.

Please note, more than one code can be applied to an individual case/disclosure.

The top outcomes we achieved during our investigation of the disclosures in 2020 to 2021 fell into the following categories:

Outcome	Total
Regulatory advice and guidance provided / action plan provided under section 15(2) of the Act	383
Verified that trustees were dealing with the issue	125
Following investigation decided that it was not proportionate to take further action	55
Information gathering powers exercised	28
Signposted to other regulator	25
Total	616

All of the advice we provide is of a regulatory nature appropriate to the nature of the issue raised.

The top impacts we had whilst investigating the 2020 to 2021 disclosures fell into the following categories:

Impact	Total
Trustees are more aware of their responsibilities/duties	92
The charity’s beneficiaries, reputation and/ or public trust (including the sector) was protected	90
Reassurance that issues are being handled/resolved	80
Trustees taking and acting on professional advice	60
Reassurance no regulatory concerns	48
Protected charity’s reputation	34
Governance & policies significantly improved	29
Trustee body more effective	19
Conflict of Interest being managed	17
Beneficiary(s) protected	16
Improved transparency and reporting	11
Charity funds can be used more effectively	10
Protected assets	10

5. The impact of whistleblowing disclosures on our ability to perform our duties

The disclosures we have received from whistleblowers this year have helped us to detect and prevent concerns in a number of charities and take steps to put these right.

Our impacts include:

• opening compliance cases and investigations into charities that were identified in these disclosures as being at serious risk
• using our powers to protect charities’ beneficiaries, assets, work and reputations and, more widely, public trust and confidence in charities and the charity sector
• identifying other governance issues not directly raised by the whistleblower and ensuring these are addressed
• ensuring charities are complying with their safeguarding duties
• giving regulatory advice to trustees to make them aware of their duties and responsibilities, and ensure they make significant and necessary improvements to their charity’s governance

6. Whistleblowing in the Charity Commission

Our approach to whistleblowing has continued to evolve. A successful pilot approach adopted in 2019-2020 has been consolidated into our core business and our relationship with the whistleblowing charity Protect has continued. Protect provides a dedicated, independent and confidential whistleblowing helpline, giving whistle-blowers support and guidance, enabling individuals to report wrongdoing in charities to the relevant authorities, including the Commission.

Our policy of offering to speak directly with each whistleblower on receipt of their disclosure is now a key part of our assessment function. Used as a standard approach, this allows us to better identify and investigate wrong-doing and potential misconduct and mismanagement in the administration of charities. We are confident that this has improved our approach to whistleblowing disclosures. Those who want to make a disclosure to us have an easy way to approach us with their concerns and a phone call indicates that they will be listened to. We consider this to be one of the reasons why we have seen such an increase in whistleblowing disclosures made to us; up by 75% to 431 reports in the reporting period compared to a year previous.

Despite the increase in reports, we have maintained our standard of making contact with the whistleblower within 10 working days, achieving this in 91% of cases in 2020- 2021.

Supporting and encouraging disclosures to be made to us enables the Commission to fulfil its statutory objectives (as set out in paragraph 2) and its key strategic objectives of holding charities to account and dealing with wrongdoing and harm whilst delivering on our purpose to ensure charity can thrive and inspire trust so that people can improve lives and strengthen society.

Looking ahead, we will seek to continue to develop our relationship with Protect and to maintain our service standards against further anticipated strong demand.

1. The figure of 431 whistleblowing disclosures in 2020/21 are for the full period April 2020 to March 2021. This is an update on the figure of 379 for whistleblower disclosures published in the 2020/21 Charity Commission Annual Report which relied on data for the April to January period in 2020/21 only. This was due the introduction by the Commission of a new case management system in early 2021 which meant that it was not possible to verify whilstleblowing disclosures data for the period of February and March 2021. Data for this period has now been verified, and in line with a commitment to update figures in the next annual cycle this annual whistleblowing report gives verified data for the full 2020/21 year. ↩