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Parts of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 come into effect on 1 August 2025. These strengthen the legal duties of universities in relation to free speech and academic freedom. Regulation of the new duties is undertaken by the Office for Students (OfS), which has published regulatory guidance on the topic. The University is fully committed to securing and promoting freedom of speech within the law for staff, students and visiting speakers in all activities relating to academic life. The University’s Code of Practice on Freedom of Speech sets out the University’s values, approach and associated procedures in detail. This policy/guidance/information is currently being reviewed against the OfS’ regulatory guidance. Any amendments arising from the review will be subject to approval being sought through the University’s normal governance processes. In the meantime, this policy/guidance/information is to be interpreted and applied in a manner consistent with the Code of Practice; in the case of any perceived conflict, the provisions of the Code of Practice will take precedence insofar as that is lawful and reasonably practicable. For further information on the new legislation, please see the Governance and Compliance Division website. |
Advice and Instructions for Staff
The term ‘whistleblowing’ has no legal definition within EC or UK law; however, it has been used to describe incidents where an employee (which for these purposes includes not only employees but workers and other staff members) reports some alleged wrongdoing within an organisation.
The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 aims to promote greater openness in the workplace and, by amending the Employment Rights Act 1996, protects ‘whistleblowers’ from detrimental treatment, i.e. victimisation or dismissal, for raising concerns about matters they reasonably believe to be in the public interest.
This statement sets out the University's Policy and provides in some detail advice and guidance to staff on the scope of the Policy. It explains that a member of staff, who has a reasonable belief that serious malpractice relating to any of the protected matters specified in the Policy has occurred or is likely to occur, may raise a concern under the procedure agreed by the Council and which is described in this statement. There is also information about the rights of staff to raise the matter externally and the protection afforded to them if they choose to do this.
Introduction
All persons employed by the University are under an obligation implied in their contract of employment to give honest and faithful service to their employer. This includes an obligation not to disclose to external sources any trade secrets or confidential information acquired during the course of employment or act in a manner that will undermine the mutual trust and confidence on which the employment relationship is based. The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 complements those obligations by providing protection to employees for disclosures made in the public interest of certain specific types of information, which in most cases will be of a confidential nature. These are outlined below in paragraph 3. The purpose of this policy is to provide a means by which staff are enabled to raise concerns with the appropriate University authorities if they have reasonable grounds for believing serious malpractice has occurred or is likely to occur. The University encourages staff to raise matters of concern responsibly through the procedures laid down in this policy statement.