The Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Persons) (Amendment) Order 2025

Statutory Instruments

2025 No. 604

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

The Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Persons) (Amendment) Order 2025

Made

16th May 2025

Laid before Parliament

21st May 2025

Coming into force

26th June 2025

The Secretary of State makes this Order in exercise of the powers conferred by section 43F of the Employment Rights Act 1996(1).

Citation, commencement and extent

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Persons) (Amendment) Order 2025.

(2) This Order comes into force on 26th June 2025.

(3) This Order extends to England and Wales and Scotland.

Amendments to the Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Persons) Order 2014

2.  In the Schedule to the Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Persons) Order 2014(2)—

(a) in the entry relating to the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, in the second column, after paragraph (b) insert—

“; and (ba) the Secretary of State’s functions in relation to trade sanctions in sanctions regulations made under section 1 of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018(3).”;

(b) in the entry relating to the Secretary of State for Transport, in the second column—

(i) after paragraph (b) omit “and”;

(ii) after paragraph (c) insert—

“; and (d) the Secretary of State’s functions in relation to aircraft and shipping sanctions in sanctions regulations made under section 1 of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018.”; and

(c) at the appropriate place insert—

“The Treasury	The Treasury’s functions in relation to—
	(a) sanctions regulations made under section 1 of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018; (b) the financial sanctions legislation listed in section 143(4) (a) to (e) of the Policing and Crime Act 2017(4); and (c) Part 8 of the Policing and Crime Act 2017.”.

Justin Madders

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

Department for Business and Trade

16th May 2025

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order amends the Schedule to the Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Persons) Order 2014 (the “2014 Order”).

The Employment Rights Act 1996 (the “1996 Act”) provides protection for workers who suffer a detriment or are dismissed as a result of whistleblowing by making a qualifying disclosure within the meaning of section 43B of the 1996 Act in accordance with any of sections 43C to 43H of that Act. Section 43F of the 1996 Act provides that a worker will be protected by the 1996 Act if he or she makes a qualifying disclosure to a person prescribed in the 2014 Order reasonably believing that the failure disclosed falls within the matters in respect of which that person is prescribed and that the information disclosed, and any allegation contained in it, are substantially true. The Schedule to the 2014 Order lists the prescribed persons and the matters in respect of which they are prescribed for the purposes of section 43F.

This Order amends the Schedule to the 2014 Order to prescribe matters in respect of which the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, the Secretary of State for Transport and the Treasury are prescribed persons. The newly prescribed matters concern the sanctions-related functions of these prescribed persons.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this Order as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen.

(1)

1996 c. 18. Section 43F was inserted by section 1 of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (c. 23). Section 43F(1)(a) was amended by section 18(1)(c) of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 (c. 24).

(2)

S.I. 2014/2418; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 2016/968, 2018/795, 2022/1064 and 2023/424.

(3)

2018 c. 13. Section 1 was amended by section 57(2) of the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022 (c. 10) and section 35(2) of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (c. 56).

(4)

2017 c. 3. Section 143 was amended by paragraph 8(2) and (3) of Schedule 3 to the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (c. 13) and section 214(1) of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (c. 56).