What is whistleblowing?
Whistleblowing is when you raise a concern about wrongdoing in your organisation. This is known as "blowing the whistle", and is important for helping organisations identify problems and improve their practices.
If you're worried about a child protection issue in your organisation, you can "blow the whistle" by following your organisation's whistleblowing policy, or by raising it with our Whistleblowing Advice Line.
You can contact our Advice Line about something that has happened in the past, is happening right now, or you believe might happen in the future.
Will I get in trouble for whistleblowing?
If you raise a concern with us about a potential child protection issue in your organisation, the law protects you from being treated unfairly or losing your job.
The NSPCC is a prescribed whistleblowing body for child welfare and protection. This means that you can raise a concern with us and we will seek to protect you against any unfair treatment at work.
What happens when you contact our Whistleblowing Advice Line?
A call handler will answer the phone and ask a few basic questions to help them understand why you are calling. You will then be connected with one of our child protection specialists.
Our child protection specialist will talk you through the whistleblowing process and take details of your concerns. They will also ask you any questions they might have, this helps them make sure they understand the information you're sharing so they can make decisions about next steps to take.
If you contacted our Whistleblowing Helpline by email, they'll write back to you with some questions or advice. You might be asked to call the Helpline if you can.
Our child protection specialist will explain the protections that are available to you if you need it.
You can remain anonymous if you like, you don't have to tell us who you are. If you do give us your name and contact details, you can ask us not to share these with other agencies.
You may want to seek independent legal advice or contact a trade union to discuss any concerns around your employment.
Our child protection specialist will contact the relevant authorities and agencies to investigate and take action on your concerns.
When there's a serious concern about a child and you've shared the child's identity, we will make a report and share information with social services. This is known as 'making a referral'.
If a child is in immediate danger, we might also contact the local police.
Annual Whistleblowing Helpline report
Our Whistleblowing Advice Line was commissioned by the Home Office as a response to the recommendation for a "new whistleblowing national portal for child abuse related reports" set out in the government's Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation report.
We are required to report each year on the disclosures we receive to our Whistleblowing Helpline.
