Today, the [Scottish Parliament’s] Public Petitions Committee supported PE1979 by keeping it open and agreeing actions to progress our petition’s calls.
Bill Cook
Bill Cook is a former Edinburgh councillor and retired Chartered Engineer. As a councillor, he was the political lead in introducing Edinburgh City Council’s new whistleblowing system in 2014, which provided for independent investigators to examine allegations of malpractice and corruption. His experience of establishing the system led him to become an advocate for stronger statutory protections for whistleblowers.
In 2022, Cook helped lead calls for a wider public inquiry into child protection and safeguarding in Edinburgh as one of the PE1979 petitioners to the Scottish Parliament calling for an independent inquiry and an independent national whistleblowing officer for education and children’s services.
Update from the petitioners of PE1979 (to establish an inquiry and independent national whistleblowing office to investigate alleged mishandling of child safeguarding enquiries)
PE1979/QQ: Establish an independent inquiry and an independent national whistleblowing office to investigate concerns about the alleged mishandling of child safeguarding enquiries by public bodies This submission provides background for new committee members and responds to the Scottish Government submission of 19 August 26.
Sign the petition! PE1979: Establish an independent inquiry and an independent national whistleblowing officer to investigate concerns about the alleged mishandling of child safeguarding enquiries by public bodies
Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to launch an independent inquiry to examine: concerns that allegations about child protection, child abuse, safeguarding, and children’s rights have been mishandled by public bodies, including local authorities and the General Teaching Council Scotland (GTCS); gaps in the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry; and establish an independent national whistleblowing officer for Education and Children’s Services in Scotland to handle these enquiries in the future.
Former Edinburgh councillor Alison Dickie and whistleblower Christine Scott petition MSPs over child abuse
Former Edinburgh SNP councillor Alison Dickie, together with ex-Labour councillor Bill Cook, whistleblower Christine Scott and former teacher Neil McLennan have lodged a petition at the Scottish Parliament, pressing for a public investigation into the alleged mishandling of unresolved child abuse and child protection concerns; a national whistleblowing officer for education and children’s services; and closure of “serious gaps” in the current Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry.
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