Former Head of National Insurance Policy at the Treasury Is Awarded £142,000 In Whistleblowing Case

Former civil servant David Owen has been awarded £142,000 after HM Treasury refused to re-employ him following a whistleblowing claim.

David Owen had previously been employed as Head of National Insurance Policy but was forced to leave his job after 18 years of service following accusations that claimed his colleagues had tried to alter key policy that may have affected jobs and growth.

Mr Owen believed that on the run up to the 2011 budget, colleagues had overemphasised the risks associated with implementing the policy. He was also concerned that some of the advice given to Ministers may not have been objective, thus potentially breaching the Civil Service Code.

In an article published by the Telegraph, it was reported that after having blown the whistle regarding the breach of civil service code, Mr Owen was summoned to a disciplinary hearing “out of the blue,” where he was dismissed three days later over unrelated matters.

Subsequently, Mr Owen lodged a claim at a tribunal where it was ruled that the Treasury should find him another job. The tribunal also stated that Mr Owen’s dismissal was “seriously flawed in a number of important respects”, and that the Treasury “did not act reasonably.” The Treasury chose to ignore this order resulting in Mr Owen’s award of £142,000 in compensation. Mr Owen responded by stating;

“It’s good it’s been confirmed I deserve my job back but the simple, just course would have been to take me back without a long, costly process.”

“I’m shocked that a government department is refusing to do as British justice has ordered. It feels wrong that I’m faced with a huge legal bill when how I was treated was so flawed that my dismissal was bound to be found unfair.” (The Guardian)

Cathy James of the whistleblowing charity ‘Public Concern at Work,’ has spoken out as she believes that this case demonstrates that more should be done to protect whistleblowers.

She said,“it beggars belief that the Treasury did not follow the tribunal’s order to re-employ Mr Owen but instead chose to fight this case to the bitter end, resulting in huge costs to the taxpayer. How can we trust what the government says about commitment to protect whistleblowers if this is how their own departments behave?”

The Guardian highlighted that a spokeswoman for the Treasury had declined to discuss Mr Owen’s case explaining that,

“we do not comment on individual employment matters. This matter is still the subject of an appeals process.”

1 Whilst every effort has been made to maintain accuracy throughout this article, Nationwide Employment Lawyers cannot accept responsibility or liability for any errors. This article is intended for guidance purposes only and does not constitute specialist legal advice. Nationwide Employment Lawyers accept no responsibility or liability whatsoever for any action taken or not taken in relation to this article and recommend that appropriate legal advice be taken in all circumstances.