THIS IS AN ALLEGEDLY “VEXATIOUS” REQUEST
→
18th October 2012
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/departure_of_chief_internal_audi
See also this related blog post
Dear Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council,
On 17th October 2012, it finally became public knowledge that
disgraced Chief Internal Auditor David Garry – who had perversely
and inexplicably given the disgraced HESPE contract 3 stars – had
received permission, to leave his employment with Wirral Council.
http://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/999130…
Above is a link to a news story published today in the
Wirral Globe, which reported this matter, along with the departure
of the suspended Director of Law, Bill Norman. Once again, the
comments beneath the article indicate the strength of feeling
amongst a still outraged public.
The former CEO, Jim Wilkie, who himself is the subject of another
freedom of information request, currently breaching the FOI Act:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ag…
…admitted to years of learning disabled abuse by the council.
This was followed by the departure of two senior social services
officers in January of this year. It is still not clear whether
these two individuals WERE leaving as a result of their involvement
in abuse AND whether they signed compromise agreements with gagging
clauses. As of today, despite several assurances, Wirral have not
responded to the following FoI request and are many months overdue
and again in breach of the FOI Act:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/da…
Despite the fine words trotted out in Appendix S2 of the Anna
Klonowski “Refresh and Renew” Supplementary Report, the Wirral
public have still yet to see any sign of accountability or a
reckoning towards the as yet anonymous employees who perpetrated
this sustained abuse against learning disabled people over a period
of several years – which totalled over £700,000 plundered from
their bank accounts.
There were also abuses of power, as found by two independent
investigations – but which remain unpunished, and an admission to
learning disabled abuse here (See 7.1):
http://democracy.wirral.gov.uk/mgConvert…
Please provide all information you have which is connected to the
departure of Mr Garry. This will relate to meetings, hearings,
discussions, reports, and may be stored in the form of recorded
minutes, verbatim and non-verbatim notes, emails, letters, memos,
aide memoirs, documents, whether electronically or manually stored.
Please confirm and provide full details of the existence of any
payments made to Mr Garry in relation to his departure. This will
include precise amounts, the method of payment and the budget from
which the payment was / is to be derived.
Please confirm details of the existence of any “compromise
agreement” or “confidentiality agreement” or “compromise
contract”or “confidentiality contract” agreed and signed by Mr
Garry in relation to this departure or to his involvement in abuse
or malpractice. This will include confirmation and description of
any ‘gagging clauses’ and whether a positive / neutral / negative
reference was provided regarding potential future employment.
In light of the [strangely] recent discovery by Wirral’s NOW
EX-Chief Internal Auditor David Garry that “compromise contracts”
were NOT being recorded but were being arranged behind closed
doors, beyond any councillor scrutiny and beyond view of the
public:
http://democracy.wirral.gov.uk/documents…
…please describe the exact process that was followed and supply the
documents, reports, aide memoirs, notes, etc. that were created and
recorded as part of the NEW process. Please take a deep breath
before you do this, and ponder your overriding duty to act not out
of self-interest, but fairly and impartially in the unbending
service of us the public.
Please provide the names and addresses of all organisations /
bodies involved in providing legal advice to Mr Garry. Please also
provide details of meetings which occurred including times, dates
and matters discussed.
Please confirm the details of any disciplinary charges either
planned or levelled against Mr Garry in relation to any failures /
malpractice / abuse which may or may not have brought about his
departure from the Council.
If Mr Garry was provided with a “clean bill of health” regarding
his time served at the council, please provide a copy of this /
these document(s).
Please redact documents as you see fit, and remove any personally
sensitive information in accordance with the requirements of the
Data Protection Act.”
Please confirm which meetings have taken place. Presumably there
will have been at least one gathering called to scrutinise the
so-called “compromise contract” that was drawn up and agreed,
Yours faithfully,
Paul Cardin
For further context and background information, see the story of Nigel Hobro, an accountant of 30 years’ standing, working for Wirralbiz, who blew the whistle on alleged malpractice at Wirral Council, attached to the BIG (Business Investment Grant) Fund:
Mr Hobro has taken his issues to an employment tribunal, which was recently postponed due to a contributor’s illness. Presumably he will have lodged a case against his former employer WirralBiz for discrimination or for unfair or constructive unfair dismissal ~ which is often what happens to whistleblowers. The messenger is attacked.
Mr Hobro has also made some revealing remarks in the comments pages of the local media and has been very keen in his blog to get his message out there.
The story was continued in the Liverpool Daily Post during the last week of September 2012 on page 9. However for some reason, there is no web link to the story.
Here’s a WhatDoTheyKnow request, lodged in May this year, but not yet answered by the council five months on. It is now at appeal with the Information Commissioner’s Office.
UPDATE 14th March 2013
The following updating story re: whistleblower Nigel Hobro and the BIG / ISUS / Working Neighbourhoods issues has appeared today in the Wirral Globe:
This is a story which is developing, growing legs and is going to need a separate blog of its own….
Here are some further links to earlier articles, which were posted by Nigel Hobro on the Wirral Globe’s comments pages:
UPDATE 18th March 2013
There’s been a further development with this FoI request – the one relating to the mysterious circumstances surrounding the departure of former chief internal auditor David Garry.
The council have now responded, withholding the information I asked for with the claim that my request is ‘vexatious’ and the manner of my conduct ‘obsessive’. I will be developing a separate post to discuss these issues…. here.
Wirral In It Together 