Annual whistleblowing and prescribed person report 2024-25

This report provides detail of all Whistleblowing disclosures received by NRW during the 2024/25 financial year and any associated actions or recommendations.

We are committed to the highest standards of openness, probity, and accountability.There is an expectation that all those who work for us who have serious concerns about any aspect of our work is able to come forward and voice those concerns. We are committed to taking whatever action is necessary to address any wrongdoing which is uncovered.

Raising a Serious Concern in the Public Interest (formerly known as Whistleblowing) within NRW

We have established measures in place to raise serious concerns about malpractice or impropriety, using the services of our internal audit team to oversee any concerns and investigations. Our framework includes access to a telephone contact number and on-line form, where concerns can be raised anonymously if preferred.

During 2024/25 there were 53 reports submitted to NRW via its “Raising a Concern” mechanisms. All of these concerns were reviewed by the Head of Internal Audit and the Head of Governance, both of whom were independent of any of the areas of concern that were raised. Only 5 reports qualifying to be considered as potential whistleblowing cases using the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA) guidance. The remaining 48 reports did not meet the definition of matters for consideration under whistleblowing under PIDA and so were handled elsewhere in NRW as complaints or incident reports.

For a report to be considered under PIDA as whistleblowing it must be when a person raises a concern about past, present or imminent wrongdoing, or an attempt to cover up wrongdoing, in NRW, an external organisation or a body of people. To attract the legal protection the information disclosed must be in the public interest, broadly meaning that the issue must affect people at large in some way. Personal grievances and individual complaints that only impact the individual making the complaint are not covered by whistleblowing law and are instead handled as complaints or incident reports.

Of the 5 cases that were identified as qualifying for consideration as potential whistleblowing cases, 1 was for a matter reported to NRW as a Prescribed Person and therefore related to a matter outside of NRW in relation to another organisation. The remaining 4 cases were considered formally as potential whistleblowing cases, but none were upheld as actual whistleblowing cases or proceeded to a full formal investigation.

Number of cases

NRW as a Prescribed Person for Raising a Serious Concern in the Public Interest

We became a ‘Prescribed Person’ in 2020 following an approach from WG. The Prescribed Persons Order 2014 sets out a list of 60 organisations that any member of the public may approach to report suspected or known wrongdoing (whistleblowing). The organisations and individuals on the list have usually been designated as a prescribed person because they have an authoritative or oversight relationship with their sector, often as a regulatory body. The Order is amended, by the UK Government, each year, to ensure that the list remains up to date.

There was 1 case of a Prescribed Person Whistleblowing Report received from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, although it is acknowledged other concerns may have been raised outside of the formal whistleblowing process. For the case received, it was sent to another organisation for investigation as the case did not fall within the remit of NRW and was not in relation to the natural resources of Wales.