Council chiefs 'ignored rules'

Sep 11 2007 By Gurdip Thandi, Birmingham Mail

A FAILURE by senior council officials to follow their own rules led to a 'whistleblower' being paid £650,000 in compensation, a Government report has found.

District Auditor John Gregory today revealed his findings into an investigation into Walsall Council's treatment of former senior officer Peter Francis.

Mr Francis received the bumper payout in May last year after claiming at an employment tribunal that he had been unfairly dismissed from his £41,000-a-year job as head of programme management in the regeneration team.

He also said he had suffered disability discrimination when the authority failed to recognise his depression, brought on at the hands of bosses, having spoken out about the mis-spending of funding.

The council, under the former chief executive Annie Shepperd, settled out of court last December, paying a total of £584,000. This followed a £60,000 interim payment made earlier in the year.

Mr Gregory's investigation found that the council did not follow its own procedures and rules when dealing with 52-year-old Mr Francis's complaints or treating his depression.

Walsall Council's acting chief executive Carole Evans said: "Walsall Council is ready to acknowledge its mistakes and deal with them."