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   Salford children's boss loses £175k appeal
Sacked Salford Council head of Children’s Services Jill Baker has lost her appeal against her dismissal for gross misconduct. The Manchester Employment Tribunal, which Salford Council say has cost £175,000, found that the council acted "reasonably and fairly" in dismissing the director in December 2009. Mrs Baker came under pressure after a number of high-profile incidents, including the death of Salford toddler Demi Leigh Mahon, and external reports critical of her department. The council said it had lost trust and confidence in Mrs Baker’s ability to lead its Department and in particular in the children’s safeguarding service. Mrs Baker claimed unfair and wrongful dismissal by the council after a panel of five councillors took the decision to dismiss her for gross misconduct. Mrs Baker said that she had done nothing wrong and had been made a ‘political scapegoat’. But this was unanimously rejected by the Employment Tribunal. Councillor John Merry CBE, Leader of Salford City Council, said he was pleased with the tribunal's decision but disappointed that the council had to spend so much money on the case. He said: "Throughout this process we have tried to reach an agreement with Mrs Baker that would mean this would not have to go to tribunal, for her benefit as much as ours.” “Safeguarding children is incredibly important and is something we take very seriously. We therefore have to have someone in charge of Children’s Services who we believe can do this job effectively and keep safe children living in Salford. “We know we still have improvements to achieve in Children’s Services but we are making good progress and the staff, supported by all of Salford’s political parties, have shown a great commitment to take the steps necessary to bring that about those changes and a determination to keep children of Salford safe.” The council stated this morning that the total cost of the tribunal was over £175,000 "as well as hundreds of hours of officers' time being spent preparing for the tribunal". Salford Council confirmed that they will now be taking legal advice to recoup these costs. Due to problems with spam only SalfordOnline members can now leave comments. Becoming a member of SalfordOnline only takes a minute, just hit the red Join Us button at the top right hand side of the page to create your Personal account. Got a news story? Need help with publicity for an event in Salford? Send it to newsdesk@salfordonline.com or call the SalfordOnline newsdesk on 0161 789 5377. |
