Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Sangster.  It was noted that Councillor Cleaver was attending the meeting instead of her.

Members are asked to declare any interests they may have in the business to be discussed.

No declarations of interest were made.

PRIVATE SESSION

AGENDA

MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC TO NOTE

Under the law, the Committee is entitled to consider certain items in private. Members of the public will be asked to leave the meeting when such items are discussed.

The Committee is recommended to consider the following item in private on the grounds that it contains ‘exempt’ information, as defined by the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985, and consequently that the Committee makes the following resolution:-

“that the press and public be excluded during consideration of the following item in accordance with the provisions of Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, because it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in Paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, namely information relating to an individual, and taking all the circumstances into account, it is considered that the public interest in maintaining the information as exempt outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information”.

RESOLVED:

            that the press and public be excluded during consideration of the following item in accordance with the provisions of Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, because it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in the paragraph detailed below of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information:

Paragraph 1

Information relating to any individual

The Appellant’s Statement of Case and the Management’s Statement of Case are attached for all parties, along with a collection of background and general information.

The Committee considered an appeal against dismissal from employment with the City Council under the Council’s disciplinary policy.

Louise Pinnock (HR Team Manager) and Tracie Rees (Director of Adult Social Care and Commissioning) were present as advisors to the Committee.

The management representative was Mary McCausland, (Head of Enablement).  Alan Faulkner (Human Resources Advisor) was present as HR advisor to management.

The appellant was present and was accompanied by Rekhee Parmar.

The appellant called Emily Worley and Gnade Gahoua as witnesses.  Management called Sandra Makura as a witness.

The Committee considered the written submissions and discussed and took into account the evidence from management and the appellant in coming to its decision.  This included listening to the character statements presented by the appellant’s witnesses.

Whilst the Committee understood the appellant’s desire to undertake charitable work and support to others, it believed that the appellant’s commitment in the first instance should have been to the Council and the people he was employed to support.  However, the Committee took the opportunity to wish the appellant well for the future in this regard.

RESOLVED:

That the appeal be rejected and the management decision to dismiss the appellant upheld.

Reasons:

1)    Based on the evidence presented, the City Council’s Disciplinary Policy had been fairly applied and the decision to dismiss was reasonable given the circumstances of the case. 

2)    The appellant’s conduct whilst employed by Leicester City Council left the authority in a vulnerable position and resulted in an irretrievable breakdown of trust in the employer and employee relationship.

3)    The appellant’s behaviour had the potential to damage the reputation of the City Council and risked liability claims arising from third parties.

The meeting closed at 2.35 pm