Express & Star

Express & Star Comment: Council gag deals fuel suspicion

The controversial issue of gagging orders has once again reared its head after it emerged that Wolverhampton Council has spent millions on settlement agreements in the last five years.

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The authority has paid out £7.8 million to 861 departing staff since 2011/12.

This is, quite frankly, an astonishing figure, particularly during a period when the council is battling huge cuts to its budget from central government.

It comes hot-on-the-heels of Stafford Borough Council revealing it had paid 13 workers more than £220,000 to ensure they didn't talk in public about their time on the authority's books.

  • MORE: Wolverhampton Council spends £8 MILLION silencing former staff

  • MORE: Stafford council spends £222k on gagging orders for former staff

For their part, bosses at Wolverhampton council say the settlement agreements ensure that staff leaving the authority can't be re-employed by the council for 12 months after leaving.

This, they say, protects the public purse by preventing people from accepting redundancy payments and returning to work for the council.

Just how many staff have been paid redundancy having left the council only to return to work there has not been disclosed.

The council refused to provide this information when we asked for it as they said it would cost too much money.

It is a response that simply adds to the veil of secrecy. The public would be within its rights to accuse the council of not being open and transparent.

An expense approaching £8m requires a detailed explanation, not the brief official response we received from Wolverhampton Council.

It is hardly surprising that there is a growing body of opinion that these agreements should be banned.

Our councils have a responsibility to the public and transparency plays a big part.

It is of concern that whistleblowers could be prevented from pointing out failings in public bodies by the fact that they have signed gagging orders.

It is not so long ago that Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt banned the use of such orders preventing NHS staff raising concerns about patient care in the wake of the Mid Staffordshire hospital scandal.

We have said recently in this column that spending vast sums of cash in hush money is a highly suspect policy for any local authority.

Is it too much to ask for our public servants to be straight with us over matters in the public interest?

Until this happens the suspicion will remain that public sector bosses are using such agreements as a means to cover up failings and wrongdoing.

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