Gagging Orders

The request was successful.

Dear Merthyr Tydfil Council,

Please could you disclose the number of staff exits which have included the use of gagging orders otherwise technically known as compromise or settlement agreements during the last 10 years.

Please could you provide a breakdown of the numbers and costs of such agreements per year.

If possible please could you indicate how many agreements in each year involved a member of staff exiting the organisation whose role involved working with children or other vulnerable groups.

Yours faithfully,

Rhys Matthews

FOI (Freedom of Information), Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council

Dear Sirs

RE:     Freedom Of Information Act 2000 – INFORMATION Request

We acknowledge your request for information about gagging orders received
by the Freedom of Information Officer on 20 August 2013.

We are considering your request and you will receive the Councils full
response within the statutory timescale of 20 working days, which in this
instance is no later than …, unless the information is exempt or we
require additional time to consider whether disclosure is in the public
interest in accordance with Section 2 of the Freedom of Information Act.  

The Act defines a number of exemptions which may prevent release of the
information you have requested. Before we provide the information we will
consider whether it is proper to release it and if any of the exemption
categories do apply then the information will not be released. We will
tell you if this is the case, and you will have a right of appeal.

If the information you request contains reference to a third party then
they may be consulted prior to a decision being taken on whether or not to
release the information to you. We will tell you if this is the case. You
may have to pay a fee for this information. We will consider this and let
you know. If so you will have to pay the fee before we process and release
the information. The 20 working day time limit for responses will not
start until we receive your payment.

If you have any queries or concerns, please contact me on 01685 725329.
You can find out more about the Act from the Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner’s Office (Wales)

2^nd Floor,

Churchill House,

Churchill Way,

Cardiff

CF10 2HH

Tel: 029 2067 8400 

Fax: 029 2067 8399

Email: [1][email address]

Website: [2]www.ico.gov.uk/eventual.aspx?id+33

Yours faithfully

Freedom of Information Officer

for LEGAL & DEMOCRATIC SERVICES MANAGER

MERTHYR TYDFIL COUNTY BOROUGH COUNCIL

This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. The contents of this e-mail represent the views of the individual(s) named above and do not necessarily represent the views of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council.

Mae'r e-bost hwn ac unrhyw ffeiliau a drosglwyddir gydag ef yn gyfrinachol ac wedi'u bwriadu ar gyfer pwy bynnag y cyfeirir ef ato neu atynt. Mae cynnwys yr e-bost hwn cynrychioli barn y sawl a enwir uchod, felly nid ydyw'n dilyn ei fod yn cynrychioli barn Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Merthyr Tudful.

Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Merthyr Tudful
Canolfan Dinesig
Stryd Y Castell
Merthyr Tudful
CF47 8AN

Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council
Civic Centre
Castle Street
Merthyr Tydfil
CF47 8AN

Teleffon\Telephone: 01685 725000

http://www.merthyr.gov.uk

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.ico.gov.uk/eventual.aspx?id+33

FOI (Freedom of Information), Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council

Dear Sirs

RE:     Freedom Of Information Act 2000 – INFORMATION Request

We have considered your request and provide the following information:

 

Please could you disclose the number of staff exits which have included
the use of gagging orders otherwise technically known as compromise or
settlement agreements during the last 10 years. Please could you provide a
breakdown of the numbers and costs of such agreements per year.

 

The Council has not entered into any gagging orders during the last 10
years. Details of the number of compromise agreements entered into has
been outlined below. Not all agreements entered into held a monetary
value.

 

2003 = Unknown

2004 = Unknown

2005 = Unknown

2006 = Unknown

2007 = Unknown

2008 = Unknown

2009 = 0 - £0

2010 = 0 - £0

2011 = 3 - £36,000.00

2012 = 9 - £263,077.38

2013 = 3 - £56,575.00

 

Please note the above figures do not include the implementation of single
status.

 

If possible please could you indicate how many agreements in each year
involved a member of staff exiting the organisation whose role involved
working with children or other vulnerable groups.

 

2003 = Unknown

2004 = Unknown

2005 = Unknown

2006 = Unknown

2007 = Unknown

2008 = Unknown

2009 = 0

2010 = 0

2011 = 3

2012 = 8

2013 = 3

 

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You are free to use it for your
own purposes, including any non-commercial research you are doing and for
the purposes of news reporting. Any other re-use, for example commercial
publication, would require the permission of the copyright holder. Most
documents supplied by this department will have been produced by
government officials and will be Crown Copyright. You can find details on
the arrangements for re-using Crown copyright on OPSI (Office of Public
Sector Information) at: [1]http://www.opsi.gov.uk/click-use/index.htm.

 

We supply this based on your original request. If this is not what you
wanted or if you feel we have not fully understood your request please do
not hesitate to contact me to clarify your exact requirements. If you have
any queries or concerns or are in any way dissatisfied with the handling
of your request please contact me on 01685 725329. You can find out more
about the Act from the Information Commissioner at:

 

Information Commissioner’s Office (Wales)

2^nd Floor,

Churchill House,

Churchill Way,

Cardiff

CF10 2HH

 

Tel: 029 2067 8400 

Fax: 029 2067 8399

Email: [2][email address]

Website: [3]www.ico.gov.uk/eventual.aspx?id+33

Yours faithfully

Freedom of Information Officer
for LEGAL AND DEMOCRATIC SERVICE MANAGER

 

This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. The contents of this e-mail represent the views of the individual(s) named above and do not necessarily represent the views of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council.

Mae'r e-bost hwn ac unrhyw ffeiliau a drosglwyddir gydag ef yn gyfrinachol ac wedi'u bwriadu ar gyfer pwy bynnag y cyfeirir ef ato neu atynt. Mae cynnwys yr e-bost hwn cynrychioli barn y sawl a enwir uchod, felly nid ydyw'n dilyn ei fod yn cynrychioli barn Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Merthyr Tudful.

Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Merthyr Tudful
Canolfan Dinesig
Stryd Y Castell
Merthyr Tudful
CF47 8AN

Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council
Civic Centre
Castle Street
Merthyr Tydfil
CF47 8AN

Teleffon\Telephone: 01685 725000

http://www.merthyr.gov.uk

References

Visible links
1. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/click-use/index.htm
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.ico.gov.uk/eventual.aspx?id+33