2015 No. 1981

Terms And Conditions Of Employment

The Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Persons) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2015

Made

Laid before Parliament

Coming into force

The Secretary of State makes the following Order in exercise of the powers conferred by section 43F of the Employment Rights Act 19961.

Citation and commencement1

This Order may be cited as the Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Persons) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2015 and comes into force on 1st February 2016.

Amendments to the Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Persons) Order 20142

In the Schedule to the Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Persons) Order 20142—

a

omit the entry relating to the Audit Commission for Local Authorities and the National Health Service in England;

b

in the entry relating to auditors appointed by the Audit Commission for Local Authorities and the National Health Service in England, for the words in the first column substitute “Auditors appointed to audit the accounts of bodies listed in Schedule 2 to the Local Audit and Accountability Act 20143.”;

c

in the second column of the entry relating to the Care Quality Commission, omit paragraph (b) and insert—

b

the functions exercised by the Healthwatch England committee4, including any functions of the Care Quality Commission exercised by that committee on its behalf5; or

c

any activities not covered by (a) or (b) in relation to which the Care Quality Commission exercises its functions.

d

in the entry relating to the Health and Safety Executive, for the words in the second column substitute “Matters relating to those industries and work activities for which the Health and Safety Executive is the enforcing authority under the Health and Safety (Enforcing Authority) Regulations 19986 and which are about the health and safety of individuals at work, or the health and safety of the public arising out of or in connection with the activities of persons at work.”;

e

in the entry relating to the Homes and Communities Agency, for the words in the second column substitute “Matters relating to the proper conduct of the business of registered providers of social housing.”;

f

in the second column of the entry relating to the Pensions Regulator, omit the word “other”;

g

in the second column of the entry relating to the Prudential Regulation Authority, after the words “within the meaning” insert “of the”;

h

omit the entry relating to the Standards Commission for Scotland and the Chief Investigating Officer;

i

in the second column of the entry relating to the Welsh Ministers, at the end insert “Matters relating to the environment and natural resources as set out in the Natural Resources Body for Wales (Establishment) Order 20127.”; and

j

at the appropriate places, insert the entries set out in the Schedule to this Order.

Nick BolesMinister of State for SkillsDepartment for Business, Innovation and Skills

SCHEDULE

Article 2(j)

First Column

Second Column

Persons and descriptions of persons

Description of matters

Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland8

Breaches by a councillor or a member of a devolved public body (as defined in section 28 of the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc (Scotland) Act 20009) of the code of conduct applicable to that councillor or member under that Act.

Health Education England10

Matters relating to—

  1. a

    Health Education England’s functions under sections 97(1) and 98(1) of the Care Act 2014 (which relate to planning and delivering education and training for health care workers11 and to ensuring sufficient skilled and trained health care workers are available for the health service throughout England);

  2. b

    the functions exercised by Local Education and Training Boards12, including any functions of Health Education England exercised by Local Education and Training Boards on its behalf13; or

  3. c

    any activities not covered by (a) or (b) in relation to which Health Education England exercises its functions.

National Health Service Commissioning Board14

Matters relating to the provision of services pursuant to a contract, agreement or arrangement under Part 4 (which relates to primary medical services), Part 5 (which relates to primary dental services), Part 6 (which relates to primary ophthalmic services) or Part 7 (pharmaceutical services and local pharmaceutical services) of the National Health Service Act 200615.

NHS Business Services Authority16

Matters relating to—

a

fraud, corruption or other unlawful activity in relation to the health service in England; or

b

security management in the health service in England;

in relation to which the Counter Fraud and Security Management Service Division17 (also known as “NHS Protect”) exercises the functions of the NHS Business Services Authority.

Secretary of State for Health

Matters relating to—

  1. a

    protecting the public in England from disease or other dangers to health under section 2A18 of the National Health Service Act 2006;

  2. b

    improving the health of the people of England under section 2B19 of the National Health Service Act 2006; or

  3. c

    any other public health functions exercised by or on behalf of the Secretary of State for Health in relation to the people of England and not covered by (a) or (b), including those exercised by Public Health England20.

The Single Source Regulations Office21

Matters relating to single source defence procurement, including the application of and compliance with Part 2 of the Defence Reform Act 201422and the Single Source Contract Regulations 201423.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order amends the Schedule to the Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Persons) Order 2014.

The Employment Rights Act 1996 (“1996 Act”) provides protection for workers who suffer a detriment or are dismissed as a result of blowing the whistle by making a qualifying disclosure within the meaning of section 43B of the 1996 Act in accordance with any of sections 43C to 43H of that Act. Section 43F of the 1996 Act provides that a qualifying disclosure will be protected if it is made to a prescribed person and relates to matters in respect of which that person is prescribed. The Schedule to the 2014 Order lists the prescribed persons and the matters in respect of which they are prescribed for the purposes of section 43F.

This Order amends the Schedule to the 2014 Order to include some persons not previously included, delete others and to amend the description of matters for which certain persons are prescribed.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no significant impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen.