Borough council spend 222k on gagging orders

Studio Tan

Well-Known Forumite
I was googling the incidence of council gagging orders and there seem to have been quite a few. Now I wonder why this would be - official secrets act, or some bungling that needs to be hushed up ? (Picture shows one of the 'lucky' thirteen).

council13.jpg
 
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Yalla

Well-Known Forumite
This doesn't surprise me at all - too many deals behind closed doors and funny handshakes !
 

PPPPPP

Well-Known Forumite
£222k of taxpayers money spent on buying off people who might expose the truth. So much for openness and transparency. The chief exec should go immediately, along with the rest of ApronsR US.
 

John Marwood

I ♥ cryptic crosswords
A LA CEO will meet up with others to compare notes

One of larger LA's CEO's will mention the latest 'improvements' he has overseen

One of these will be changing the LA's legal representation to a bigger company. The bigger company will find ways to make the LA shit the bed in terms of risk management

This results in an expensive laundry bill
 

United57

Well-Known Forumite
They cannot be used for hiding illegality or something which the public have the right to know. Generally used if a case was going to an industrial tribunal.
 

United57

Well-Known Forumite
I would think that should read should not rather than cannot.

"The law is clear any clause in a settlement or compromise agreement is void in so far as it purports to preclude a worker from making a protected disclosure - section 43J Employment Rights Act 1996. But if such a clause cannot legally be used to prevent a person from whistleblowing, no doubt some who have been offered, or accepted compromise agreements containing one have felt gagged. "
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
"The law is clear any clause in a settlement or compromise agreement is void in so far as it purports to preclude a worker from making a protected disclosure - section 43J Employment Rights Act 1996. But if such a clause cannot legally be used to prevent a person from whistleblowing, no doubt some who have been offered, or accepted compromise agreements containing one have felt gagged. "
Officially sacked for "swearing in a meeting" - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18639088 - then paid half a million pounds of public money to drop a case of unfair dismissal and keep his mouth shut about that, and anything else that went on.
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
So is the council breaking the law?
Probably not - in the sense that they are paying for silence over issues that they can pay for silence over - and any additional silence that might happen is just their 'good luck', m'Lud.
 

John Marwood

I ♥ cryptic crosswords
Average Stafford salary £16,900

(To include part time and temporary )


Source - Taylor's iced bun [large] paper bag
 

james w

Well-Known Forumite
I've worked in retail for a couple of biggish companies and it was not unusual for people to have these agreements when they fell out with the bosses and left.

One of the personnel staff told me it was because even if you won a tribunal case the company often finished up paying lawyers loads of money, so these settlement type agreements were a good way to do it.

I expect the only difference is a freedom of information inquiry doesn't apply to a private business.

Saw the story about council on BBC website and wondered if BBC were bound by freedom of information requests.
 

PPPPPP

Well-Known Forumite
FoI details from website. Like the 'fifinancial'. Is SBC corruption connected with football, and where did the figure 13 come from?


For each of the last five financial years (10/11 - 14/15) what was the total number of employees who signed a compromise agreement when they left the Council?

2010-2011 6
2011-2012 ##
2012-2013 ##
2013-2014 0
2014-2015 ##

For each of the last fifinancial years how much was paid in total to departing employees as part of the compromise agreement?
2010-2011 £53,859.00 to the nearest £1
2011-2012 £42,500.00 to the nearest £1
2012-2013 £64,982.00 to the nearest £1
2013-2014 0
2014-2015 £61,053.00 to the nearest £1

## The figures indicated are sufficently low to enable individual employee(s) to be identitied
 
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