Civil servants who want to blow the whistle on serious wrongdoing should be allowed to do so, according to MPs.
A report from the Commons public administration committee on leaks of confidential information in central government says the best safeguard against such leaks would be "proper whistleblowing procedures".
A change in culture, to provide timely and effective channels through which civil servants could report serious wrongdoing, is recommended by the report. The inquiry into leaks was set up following a number of cases, notably the arrest of a junior civil servant last year, accused of leaking information to Conservative MP Damian Green.
The MPs also suggest more vigorous internal Whitehall debate on policy should be encouraged, to ward off leaks where civil servants felt their views were not accurately reflected in the eventual policy.
Any case of the civil service refusing to act on a justified complaint should also be reported, say the MPs.
The report says leaking information should be a criminal matter only where there is a breach of the Official Secrets Act or when there is evidence of serious criminal misconduct in addition to the leak itself.
From Bubb's Blog
From Whitehall Watch
