Raising concerns
‘Raising concerns’ (previously known as ‘whistleblowing’) involves a member of staff or an external stakeholder reporting certain types of wrongdoing or suspected wrongdoing. This is officially known as ‘making a disclosure in the public interest’. The disclosure must be in the public interest i.e. it must affect others such as the general public. The Northern Ireland Civil Service encourages staff and members of the public to raise issues of concern. A suspicion of wrongdoing is sufficient cause to raise a concern.
It is considered good practice for each Department and Non Departmental Sponsored Body to have ‘Raising Concerns’ arrangements tailored to its own structure and reporting arrangements. In this respect HSENI has taken the opportunity to develop arrangements based on a template common to the NICS and wider public sector.
HSENI's Raising Concerns (Whistleblowing) Guidance can be found at the following link:
Risk of fraud
HSENI has also compiled a Fraud Risk Profile for the organisation. It determines the potential risks of fraud, it's potential outcomes and measures which are in place to control these risks.
The HSENI Fraud Risk Profile can be viewed at the following link: