NSPCC suspends whistleblower

Children’s charity the NSPCC has suspended one
of the employees who told Community Care about staff reaction to
the charity’s restructuring plans. Social worker John Power, who is
the representative for the British Union of Social Work Employees
(Buswe) at the charity’s helpline, was suspended from work last
week for forwarding “confidential” information.

The email sent by Power to Community Care
included extracts from the charity’s intranet chat page, which
revealed the disappointment and shock of employees across the
country about the NSPCC’s plans to scrap 18 projects (News, page 6,
22 November). The chat page has since been closed down.

Buswe general secretary Steve Anslow said the
union would be disputing the charity’s action against Power on the
grounds that the information was already in the public domain.

The NSPCC earlier dismissed suggestions that
staff would be sanctioned if they spoke out against the alignment
and consultation process as “nonsense”.

The NSPCC declined to comment on Power’s case,
saying that it was not its policy to comment on disciplinary action
relating to individual members of staff.