Evidence of any attempt to have Mayor Anderson's trade union reimburse costs of his legal action against Chesterfield High School.
John Coyne made this Rhyddid Gwybodaeth request to Liverpool City Council
This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.
Dear Liverpool City Council,
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This request relates to the application of paragraph 5(c) of the part of the Council Constitution INDEMNITIES FOR MEMBERS AND OFFICERS. Where it says "The indemnity will not cover any loss or expense in respect of which the employee or Member can obtain reimbursement from any other source..."
The executive decision by the Chief Executive of 29th November was "That an indemnity be applied to the legal fees incurred by Mayor Anderson in issuing legal proceedings following his dismissal by his employer."
The record of that decision does not show any evidence of an attempt to obtain reimbursement from any other source, including Mayor Anderson's trade union.
Please disclose a record of any communication made by or known to the Council relating to any attempt or request to have his trade union shoulder the costs of the legal action against his employer. Please disclose any advice or evidence given to or known by the Council which indicated that an approach to the trade union would not succeed or had not succeeded.
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Yours faithfully,
John Coyne
Dear Liverpool City Council,
Clarification: the date referred to "29th November" of the executive decision should have contained the year, i.e. "29th November 2012".
Yours faithfully,
John Coyne
Gadawodd John Coyne anodiad ()
Yes, it's clearly in the public interest to know about the trade union's position on whether there was worthwhile case to be funded. But as LCC have said, they do not own the correspondence between the Mayor and the union: LCC is a third party to that.
So what my FoI request is testing is whether LCC fulfilled a duty to verify that his union had been asked. If the union had not been asked then the failure to do so would, in my view, make the decision ultra vires, quite apart for the more fundamental question of whether it was irrational.
But to return to the disclosure of the actual correspondence between Joe Anderson and his union (Audrey's FoI), he could himself be asked about that directly. One route now available to the public is to put questions to the Mayor in Council meetings.
Gadawodd Katie M. anodiad ()
As I mentioned in an annotation to John Coyne's request for the documentation of the decision to pay the Mayor's costs, commenting on the decision document he had obtained, this document made clear that they had not asked his trade union. There is a specific section at the end of the document about consultees - external, internal, including, specifically, the trade union. They left it blank.
Gadawodd John Coyne anodiad ()
Katie,
Just on the consultation with trade unions bit in the report template, I think to be fair that this is a slot to record consultation with trade unions representing the council's own staff.
With Anderson's tribunal case, we would be talking about a trade union that represented him in his employment at Chesterfield.
LCC wouldn't consult that union directly but LCC should have satisfied itself that there was a good reason why the union would not or could not support Anderson's claim.
Gadawodd Katie M. anodiad ()
Ah, yes, of course - you're right.
Maybe I'm naïve, but in the case of the union at Chesterfield, I can't quite see them defending someone who wants to continue getting money for nothing, especially when it means that someone else remains in limbo about whether or not they have a permanent job.
Dear Kevin Symm,
The response to my FoI request is overdue. Please respond.
There is a public interest in knowing whether and to what extent decision makers satisfied themselves that trade union funding of the Mayor's legal fees was impossible and why.
Without that information the plausible suspicion of an ultra vires decision remains.
Yours sincerely,
John Coyne
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Dear Liverpool City Council,
The response to my FoI request is overdue. Please respond.
There is a public interest in knowing whether and to what extent
decision makers satisfied themselves that trade union funding of
the Mayor's legal fees was impossible and why.
Without that information the plausible suspicion of an ultra vires
decision remains.
Yours faithfully,
John Coyne
Dear Liverpool City Council,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Liverpool City Council's handling of my FOI request 'Evidence of any attempt to have Mayor Anderson's trade union reimburse costs of his legal action against Chesterfield High School.'.
The response to this request is seriously delayed. There is a public interest in showing whether or not the Constitution was complied with - did the Council satisfy itself that the Mayor's trade union was unable or unwilling to fund his claim?
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/e...
Yours faithfully,
John Coyne
Dear Mr Coyne,
Please see attached response to your FOI Request as submitted to Liverpool
City Council. Apologies for the extended time it has taken to provide you
with a response.
Regards
Information Team
Information Requests
Liverpool City Council
[1][email address]
[2]LCC auto signature (2)
References
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Dear Kevin Symm,
Thank you for the response, but unfortunately the attachment did not arrive. Can you please re-send, or paste the text into an email reply?
Yours sincerely,
John Coyne
I no longer work for Liverpool City Council. Please forward your email to
[email address]
Dear Liverpool City Council,
Thank you for the response, but unfortunately the attachment did not arrive. Can you please re-send, or paste the text into an email reply?
Yours faithfully,
John Coyne
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Gadawodd Audrey O'Keefe anodiad ()
My FOI re Mayor Anderson's relationship with his union was of course refused .....
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/a...
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/m...