Whistleblowing reform: government consults on framework and SFO reward scheme

On 12 October 2026, the government launched a consultation on the whistleblowing framework under the Employment Rights Act 1996. The consultation considers how well the current regime works and what reform could look like. It also covers the proposed Serious Fraud Office (SFO) scheme to introduce financial incentives for individuals who report economic crime. The consultation closes on 8 January 2027.

The consultation is the latest in a series of reform proposals. A private members' bill introduced in December 2024 proposed the establishment of an independent body to protect whistleblowers and manage whistleblowing cases across the UK. This followed a similar bill introduced in 2020 and reintroduced in 2021, backed by a campaign led by the charity Protect. Then in 2023, the government commissioned an independent review of the whistleblowing framework. Its findings, published in July 2025, suggested a number of areas for reform, which informed the scope of the current consultation. 

The consultation asks for views on the effectiveness of the current regime and on options for reform. In particular, it asks whether:

• the scope of protection should be extended to individuals who currently fall outside the regime, such as non-executive directors, volunteers and certain self-employed individuals;
• the categories of qualifying wrongdoing should be widened, especially given emerging risks from the growing use of artificial intelligence. The Employment Rights Act 2025 has already added sexual harassment to the list of wrongdoing that can be the subject of a protected disclosure, but the consultation invites views on broader change; 
• the public interest test is operating effectively, or whether further guidance on how the test is applied by tribunals would increase clarity; and
• employers’ obligations should be strengthened, either through revised government guidance or new statutory duties, so that employers have adequate whistleblowing policies and procedures in place.

The consultation also covers the proposed SFO scheme to reward individuals who report wrongdoing that leads to successful enforcement action. The government supports introducing the scheme and is asking for views on its design, including on:

• who should decide eligibility and the size of any award, with the courts and the SFO both put forward as options; and
• the criteria an individual must meet to qualify for a reward. 

Some of the reforms under consideration would bring the UK closer to the approach taken in the EU under the 2019 Whistleblowing Directive. In particular, introducing statutory obligations requiring employers to maintain effective whistleblowing procedures would reflect the EU Directive's emphasis on internal reporting channels and formal processes for handling disclosures. Similarly, proposals to extend protection to a wider group of individuals, including those who fall outside the traditional employment relationship, would move the UK regime closer to the broader personal scope of protection available under the EU Directive. 

That said, the practical impact of these changes, should they be implemented, may be more limited than first appears. Most large and medium-sized UK businesses already maintain whistleblowing policies and reporting procedures as a matter of good governance and regulatory expectation. As a result, for many organisations the principal effect may be to formalise practices that are already well established, with the immediate task being a review of existing policies and procedures to ensure technical compliance with any new legislative or regulatory requirements.