Whistling in the Dark? Is the Protected Disclosures Act 2022 a form of placebo policy?

Abstract

This article examines the development of the Protected Disclosures Act 2022, and evaluates the changes that it has made to previous legislation. It argues that it provides relatively few substantive improvements in the legal protections for disclosers and that even these are clouded by ambiguity. The article outlines alternative suggestions that were made throughout the passage of the Act and explores the extent to which it might be read as a placebo policy. It closes by looking at similar patterns of punch-pulling in other recent integrity initiatives.