I feel this is becoming a Catch 22.
The arresting information about National Bullying Helpline and alleged bullying offences is raising many interesting facts, none of which are about bullying or Number 10.
There is a growing trend of boredom amoung the public about political issues. With the Tories releasing a policy a day and Labour following up with appropriate adjectives such as "lambasting", and the Liberal Democrats getting fewer minutes of press coverage than usual, I am not surprised.
Data Protection
Max Clifford's decision to defend Ms Pratt amid allegations of corrupt Tory pay offs is suicide for her company and her charity.
While she may be willing to locate the emails detailing the information she was given, to do so would further contravene
Data Protection legislation.
The lateral implications for charities managing helplines are very concerning. I would be interested to see statistics in calling trends, as I would anticipate they will fall in the next week. Not only for bullying, but domestic violence, rape, child abuse et al.
This could be far more damaging to society if people think their data protection will be negotiable in public interest.
This is turn could lead to more crimes and social damage if people cannot trust the help lines therefore do not seek advice.
A corrupt help line would have as much effect as no helpline at all.
Third Sector Partnerships
There are also severe implications arising from Ms Pratt's consultancy business.
The assertion that her business,HR Diversity and Management which is refered clients from the National Bullying Helpline is an arrangement that is accepted by The Law Society is one that rings alarm bells in modern "it was within the rules" petulism.
A fantastic blog entry details the truth of the liaison between The National Bullying Helpline and HR and Diversity.
"the fairest way to have your grievance dealt with is for HR & Diversity Management to conduct an independent investigation"
I would certainly be calling for an inquiry into the management of the Charity if I were a politician.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Well put, I think a corrupt helpline is actually far worse than no helpline.
ReplyDeleteSubmissions to the Charity Commission Inquiry are intersted in the wider aspects of good governance and impact on other charities.
I recommend that you consider writing to the Inquiry with your thoughts.