STAFF at Wiltshire County Council may be deterred from exposing malpractice if the authority does not tighten up on procedures, according to a report.

Problems with the council's 'whistle-blowing' policy were highlighted in the report, which criticised the way some investigations were conducted inside the department they involve.

The report to yesterday's Standards Committee meeting recommended concerns must go straight to the monitoring officer, corporate standards manager or chief executive or the council's reputation could suffer.

Corporate standards manager Nina Wilton said: "The current reporting mechanisms are unwieldy and, for staff who may be concerned about their own positions if they make a whistle-blowing allegation, possibly intimidating.

"The current mechanism may well act as a disincentive for staff to bring concerns forward."

The report comes after a review by Ms Wilton during autumn 2004.

She found allegations concerning senior officers were conducted outside the department involved and often by external investigators, but those surrounding junior officers were usually dealt with in the same department.

Her report also said: "The present departmental investigation arrangements make it difficult to obtain full statistics about the number of whistle-blowing allegations made in the council as a whole, or to ensure consistency in recording.

"This is because, although information exists in departments, it is collated on an ad hoc basis and is not held in a central database."

Ms Wilton said although in most cases whistle-blowing allegations were dealt with adequately, there were one or two cases that suggested a review of the procedures was needed.

The council's deputy chief executive Janet Relfe echoed Ms Wilton's findings in a confidential report to the Audit Commission about one of these cases.

Ms Wilton's report also asked the Standards Committee to back changes to the whistle-blowing procedure including:

The monitoring officer should determine the most appropriate method of investigation on a case by case basis.

Experienced staff from neighbouring councils should be used as investigating officers.

No investigations should be conducted by an officer from the department involved.

A central database of allegations should be established and the committee should receive an annual report on the policy's effectiveness.