Guidance

Whistleblowing policy

Published 7 February 2025

The Commissioner is committed to ensuring that all registered organisations conduct their activities with honesty, integrity, and accountability. Registered advisers are expected to maintain the highest professional standards and to act in a manner that upholds public trust and confidence in the regulatory scheme.

The Commissioner expects any suspected wrongdoing, misconduct, or breach of regulatory requirements to be reported promptly and without delay.

This policy applies to all registered organisations and registered advisers.

1. What is whistleblowing?

Whistleblowing is the reporting of suspected wrongdoing by disclosing information about activities within an organisation that may be unlawful, unethical, improper, unsafe, or fraudulent. Examples include:

• reporting individuals who provide immigration advice or services without being properly regulated
• reporting individuals who provide immigration advice or services beyond their authorised registration level or approved categories
• reporting individuals who mislead public authorities, abuse the immigration system, or encourage others to do so
• reporting individuals who make unreasonable or inappropriate demands of clients
• reporting organisations that are exempt from paying an application fee to the Commissioner but nevertheless charge clients, directly or indirectly, for the provision of immigration advice or services
• reporting organisations that operate without the required professional indemnity insurance or other mandatory insurance cover

This list is not exhaustive and is intended only to illustrate the types of concerns that should be reported to the Commissioner.

Whistleblowing differs from making a complaint. A whistleblower is not expected to prove that wrongdoing has occurred. Rather, they raise a genuine concern so that it can be assessed and, where appropriate, investigated by the Commissioner. By contrast, a complaint is usually made by an individual who believes they have been personally affected by poor treatment, misconduct, or an unsatisfactory service.

To qualify as whistleblowing, the information disclosed must be in the public interest. This means that the concern should relate to conduct that affects, or has the potential to affect, others, such as clients, organisations, or the wider public.

2. How to raise a concern

You may raise your concern by contacting the IAA via the [Portal].(https://portal.immigrationadviceauthority.gov.uk/s/general-enquiries)

We will listen to your concern and decide if any action is needed. You may be asked for further information. You must say straight away if you do not want anyone else to know it was you who raised the concern. You will not have a say in how your concern is dealt with.

The Commissioner cannot give a timeframe for handling any disclosures raised but will aim to investigate and remedy any wrongdoing within registered organisations, within a reasonable timeframe depending on the circumstances of each case.

We can keep you informed about the action we have taken but will be unable to provide you with the full details of the action being taken detail if we have to keep the confidence of other people.

3. Confidentiality

We hope that individuals will feel able to voice whistleblowing concerns openly under this policy. Completely anonymous disclosures are difficult to investigate. The Commissioner will always ensure that the confidentiality of those who report serious misconduct is protected and their details are not disclosed to those accused of misconduct or third parties.

4. Purpose of the policy

The aim of this policy is to provide a mechanism for reporting, investigating and remedying any wrongdoing within registered organisations. This is particularly so for those individuals who for a variety of reasons, are unable to raise their concerns within the organisation and find it necessary to alert someone externally.

The law recognises that in some circumstances it may be appropriate for you to report your concerns to an external body such as a regulator.

5. Protection and support for whistleblowers

We aim to encourage openness and will support whistleblowers who raise genuine concerns under this policy, even if they turn out to be mistaken.

This is the case notwithstanding the fact that we are not currently a prescribed person under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (“the PIDA 1998”). A prescribed person is an individual or organisation, prescribed by an order of the Secretary of State, that a worker may approach outside their workplace to report suspected or known wrongdoing.

Generally, the PIDA 1998 protects workers and other stakeholders who disclose information about malpractice in the workplace from suffering detriment as a result. The objectives of the PIDA 1998 and our statutory function as a regulator are closely aligned and regulated organisations or advisers must not victimise an individual who has made a disclosure to us in the public interest. This will not be tolerated by the Commissioner.

The Commissioner strongly supports and recommends public interest disclosures and expects registered organisations and advisers to do the same. We will treat information provided to us, if you report to us, sensitively and will always discuss with you any needs or concerns that you may have. Individuals and organisations regulated by us have a duty to bring risks to the public interest to our attention, but we recognise that this can be difficult and additional support may be required.

Whistleblowers may contact Public Concern at Work, a whistleblowing charity, which operates a confidential helpline for advice about their concerns.

All those regulated by us have an obligation to ensure that they do not attempt to prevent anyone from making a complaint or providing information to us, or any other body exercising regulatory functions in the public interest.