Isle blogger Ian Driver has lodged an objection to Thanet council’s annual accounts for 2022-23 and is calling for a £327,000 pay off to former chief exec Madeline Homer to be ruled as ‘unlawful expenditure.’
Mr Driver, a former district councillor and current candidate in the May 1 elections, is also asking the council’s auditors, Grant Thornton, to use powers under the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 (LAAA), to publish a report about the circumstances surrounding the ‘gold-plated goodbye’ payment.
Mr Driver claims the severance package was approved despite TDCs councillors having seen a confidential report, which revealed that over a four year period, several grievances had been made against Ms Homer by council staff alleging her to be a workplace bully.
The confidential report included extracts from a number of specially commissioned independent investigations.
Mr Driver says the former CEO should have been disciplined and sacked rather than paid off and says that action breached the Government’s statutory guidance on the making of severance agreements, which requires such payments should never be used to avoid disciplinary processes.
The report, seen by The Isle of Thanet News, also shows that Ms Homer was able to write her own employment references and draft a news release announcing her departure in June 2022. However, a report to councillors did stipulate that the reference still had to be ” accurate and be such that the council would be prepared to defend it if challenged.”
Her exit followed an independent report into failings at the authority, which included ‘serious breakdown’ in relationships of the top management team and the use of disciplinary action against staff trying to raise complaints.
A summary version of the report by Independent Monitoring Officer, Quentin Baker, highlighted concerns such as the personal relationship between then chief exec Madeline Homer and then Director of Communities Gavin Waite; the hostile relationship between the top four senior officers and the pay out of more than £1.5m for redundancy or employment tribunal deals between 2015-2021..
On two occasions disciplinary proceedings were launched against members of the top management team -one of which resulted in a serious disciplinary sanction against Monitoring Officer Tim Howes, leading to his dismissal in April 2022 and the other ending with a public apology and £280k severance deal for deputy chief Tim Willis who left the council in October 2021.
A leaked document showed Mr Willis had lodged a grievance against Madeline Homer with accusations of systematic bullying, intimidation and victimisation. Mr Waite also departed the council in December 2022 without any kind of severance.
Former grievances
Two grievance complaints were also filed by TDC staff against top officers during 2019.
In 2020 the process of dealing with employment grievances prompted the GMB union to call on Thanet council to implement a new, independent system for dealing with bullying and harassment complaints against senior officers, saying the current methods are ‘compromised beyond further use.’
A report to councillors over the severance pay for Ms Homer also stipulated that: “No confidential reports pertaining to Ms Homer that risk further damage to her reputation and career are released into the public domain, including the full restricted version of Quentin Baker’s report which includes extracts from confidential reports.”
The severance pay included compensation for loss of earnings, payment in lieu of notice and a small ‘ex gratia’ payment.
Mr Driver said: “When legal costs, the costs of settling the grievances made against Homer, which included two six figure payments, and Homer’s £327k severance payment are all added up, it cost taxpayers at least £1.5 million, which for a small seaside authority has been devastating.
“Yet TDC’s councillors have to their shame rewarded the person who caused this costly mess, allowing her the chance to wreak mayhem all over again at some other unsuspecting organisation.
“Tighter Laws must be introduced to put an end to the widespread public sector practice paying off and covering up bullying.”
The report says the pay off was in “excess of her statutory and contractual entitlements” but felt to be necessary so the council could “move on in a positive manner” and also “protect against any potential claims that she might have now or in the future.” There were also concerns that although a tribunal may cost less, that was not guaranteed and the figure could potentially have risen far above the £327k which Ms Homer was negotiated down to.
It is understood Grant Thornton is assessing Mr Driver’s objection.
However, council leader Rick Everitt has branded Mr Driver as “at best an unreliable witness with a long and discreditable history, including a personal grudge against Madeline Homer.”
He added: “In respect of the substance of this issue, anyone can make a complaint to the auditor, but the senior officers all left following a series of decision by full council in which all four political groups participated, including the one Ian Driver now purports to represent.
“These decisions were all based on expert external legal advice and followed an exhaustive cross-party internal process, also supported by external legal advice. If better options for the council and therefore the public had been available, it is reasonable to assume that one or more political parties would have advocated them at the time. In practice, the auditors themselves played an active part in pushing this process forward.
“The three statutory officers have enhanced protection from dismissal in law which requires a high bar in evidence to remove them. Nevertheless the council’s senior legal adviser and monitoring officer was dismissed. It is easy for outsiders to say what else should have happened and when, but they do not have to consider the law or address the likely consequences of what they imagine were available options.
“Nobody is proud of this episode, but it ended in 2022. Thanet’s shortlisting as most improved council by the Local Government Chronicle offers independent evidence from within the sector of the sharp progress the council has made in recent years and the culture and leadership within the organisation is completely different now.”
‘Improving assurances’
A Thanet council statement says: “We have been notified of an objection to the 2022-23 accounts which our auditors are now considering. Following this review, the objection will be reported to the council’s management team.
“Thanet District Council in recent years has seen improving assurances from our auditors in relation to the organisation’s financial management and renewed governance arrangements.
“Recommendations from the independent monitoring officer made in 2022 have been completed and there is a positive culture at Thanet District Council.”
Thanet council has since implemented a new CEO, Colin Carmichael, and a new top team.
Just remember stories like this when TDC plead poverty and that they haven’t got any money to spend on the area. £1m on pay offs for inadequate staff.
Leaders from both Tories and Labour should have acted earlier on these issues but failed to do so.
Taxpayers in Thanet should applaud Driver for calling out previous administrations (under Bayford, especially) for allowing TDC’s governance to collapse. This ineptitude and complacency allowed bullies like Homer to thrive. And it doesn’t take a genius to spend money like water. Former leader Ashbee clinging to the line that she did Thanet a favour by throwing a wheelbarrow full of cash at a bully illustrates the utter incompetence of the tory ancien regime at TDC.
You obviously think a Labour administration will do better? Deluded springs to mind
That’s very intriguing TR. Who received the money and why?
I don’t think this will be judged unlawful, as per usual Mr Driver is stirring things up using a chocolate paddle.
Thanks to a new Chief Executive, Thanet District Council appears to have made significant improvements in its HR procedures. I have raised the issue of using a legal/ indemnity insurer to oversee any contentious HR issues. This was echoed by a Labour member at recent Council. We are both assured by the leader that procedures are now suitably robust to negate any requirement for an insurer with procedural oversight. Personally I would like to see an external legal entity with insurance involved because of the bewildering complexity of HR legislation and my own experience within SMEs. Although it does speak well of TDC’s current legal and HR team that there is now a consensus that this is not actually necessary.
Ooh what?
Corrupt, self serving and incompetent public employee and politicians – Never 😀
For once. Ian talks sense
Like some ghastly wraith from the mists of time,Ian Driver rises from hades to fight a battle that ended years ago.I do see his point and it is vexing to see Ms Homer waltzing off with Thanet’s hard earned,but in reality with her record, who in their right mind would employ her.
As for Barry Manners,to call Colin Carmichael as being new, is like calling Stephenson’s Rocket cutting edge.
CC has done a good job of making a sow’s ear into a workable organisation,but it is 40 years too late.If Angela Rayner had devolved Kent as promised, TDC would be history, which is where it belongs.
Ian Driver is a bitter man.
He has effectively lost his home because of a tussle he had with TDC some years ago. More recently, he was found guilty of criminal damage.
Generally, he restricts himself to his vitriolic blogg. But now and again, he has to give rein to his cravings for a wider audience.
This is clearly abuse of taxpayers money, and it should be returned. People trust the local authorities to delivery value for money within the community.
Last thing they need is mishandling of funds, which looks more like criminal activity.
It’s shocking that the elderly were hit extremely hard this winter, and social care has also been cut.
Yet, the paypackets are eye watering for the staff members.
Or in this case, the pay off.
We, the taxpayers need to see all local authorities held to account. Too much abuse happens with our taxes and, this must etop
Then consider all the other pay offs for wrong doing.
from Margate Borough council a century ago through the transitions to TDC the Council leaders have been corrupt. Personal experience with TDC between 1980 and 1995 showed corruption from elected leaders, appointed administrators, the local police leaders and their advisors and employees. Many “brown envelopes” changing hands and being offered for beneficial decisions. Still going on, especially in the planning department.
All indemnity does is allow your insurer to pay your tribunal costs if you lose. Hardly rocket science and often not worth the money, given they then have a say in how you take forwards complex performance management, often veering into the deeply cautious.
Instead, a forward looking employer has robust recruitment and probation processes and clear policies that confirm that anyone found to be a bully, following a fair and independent investigation, is subject to instant dismissal via gross misconduct.
The eye watering levels of compensation paid by TDC are embarrassing at best, and shameful at worst.
I’d also suggest overhauling these medieval member involved HR processes. Often why Councils don’t have HR is because members make the formal decisions. Usually members with zero HR experience.
These payments are astonishing. I am no fan of Driver but agree with this objection.
Payments for failure, you couldn’t make it up!
Ian Driver stirring up muddy waters just because he wants to get elected to a Council he has spent years trying to bring down, ever since he was find for running out of Chambers with confidential papers. You couldn’t make this stuff up. Even JK Rowling’s Casual Vacancy didn’t come up with that one. Determined troublemakers and flagrant lawbreakers just end up costing taxpayers more money in the long run.
To prove it is a lawful, or unlawful payment, why don’t T.D.C publish the figures that they come up with, rather that just say this is the amount we are going to pay. T D.C. please justify yourselves, so there is no hiding, and every electorate, and lawyer can see your figures. People say “brown envelopes” just prove you have the people’s interest in heart, not just yours.
If you read the piece, you’ll see that both cross-paery consensus and comprehensive legal advice was obtained before this action was taken.