Philip Thornton considers fairness & accountability in public office dismissals
After the death of Baby P, the secretary of state for children, schools and families asked Ofsted to produce an urgent report into the child safeguarding arrangements within Haringey. Acting on the contents of that report, the secretary of state issued a direction under the Education Act 1996, s 497A(4B) appointing others in place of the director of children and young people’s services (DCS) and her deputy with immediate effect. A panel of Haringey’s councillors decided shortly afterwards that the DCS should be dismissed summarily with no compensation.
In R (Shoesmith) v (1) Ofsted (2) SoS for Children Schools and Families (3) LB Haringey [2010] All ER (D) 162 (Apr), the claimant, who had held the post of DCS, made applications for judicial review against Haringey, her employer, and others. Her complaint against Haringey was that it had conducted processes which breached principles of natural justice.
One question addressed by Foskett J’s extensive judgment was how a local authority employee who (on account of the particular post held) is also a statutory office holder,
