Sharon Shoesmith unfair dismissal ruling backed by supreme court

Baby P case judicial review application fails leaving sacked children’s services chief in line for £500,000 compensation The supreme court has rejected applications by the Department for Education and Haringey council to challenge a landmark ruling that Sharon Shoesmith was unfairly sacked following the death of Baby P. The appeal court concluded in May that Shoesmith’s dismissal by the former children’s secretary Ed Balls was “intrinsically unfair and unlawful” – a judgment that has now been upheld by the highest court in the land and leaves the former director of children’s services at Haringey council potentially in line for compensation of more than £500,000. The education department and the north London borough had sought permission to attempt to overturn the appeal court ruling, with the government arguing it must uphold the principle that ministers – and not the courts, through judicial review – should be responsible for their decisions. A spokesman for the supreme court said the applications for leave to appeal had been refused. The Department for Education saidit was “very disappointed to hear that permission for leave to appeal to the supreme court has not been granted. The government still believes it was right in principle for Sharon Shoesmith to be removed from her post as director of children’s services. “We believe that the supreme court should have heard this case as we believe there are questions of constitutional importance involved, beyond the specific question about whether Ed Balls should have had a meeting with Shoesmith before she was removed from her post.” Shoesmith, who earned £133,000 a year as an employee of Haringey council, is now liable for pay and pension contributions dating back to her dismissal in December 2008. Some estimates put the compensation and legal costs in the two-year case at more than £1m – a sum that would be paid by the council and the government. Shoesmith was sacked without compensation after Ofsted published a damning report into the death of 17-month-old Baby P – since named as Peter Connelly – exposing failings in her department. Balls moved swiftly to remove Shoesmith but her lawyers argued that she had been the victim of “a flagrant breach of natural justice” and that she was driven from her post by a media witch-hunt and political pressure. The appeal judges found that Balls and Haringey acted too hastily and were “procedurally unfair” because Shoesmith was not given a proper chance to put her case. They said politicians could not ignore elementary fairness when dealing with public servants at the centre of controversy, even when they felt they were acting legitimately in the public interest. Wednesday is the fourth anniversary of Baby Peter’s death. He died in Tottenham, north London, on 3 August 2007 at the hands of his mother, Tracey Connelly, her lover Steven Barker and their lodger, Barker’s brother Jason Owen. He had more than 50 injuries despite being on Haringey’s at-risk register and receiving 60 visits from social workers, police and health professionals over the final eight months of his life. A series of reviews identified missed opportunities when officials could have saved his life if they had acted properly on the warning signs. Shoesmith is believed to be backing a campaign to win back the jobs of four other social workers who were also dismissed. Baby P Child protection Children Randeep Ramesh guardian.co.uk

Posted by on August 2, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.