We as a Community Council were formed in May 2008. At this time, only 3 members of the previous council remained, namely Cllr Davies, Cllr Calver and Cllr Mine. Cllr Hine resigned early on in the term of the Council due to health issues. We as a Council inherited a challenging situation, namely an ongoing Employment Tribunal Case involving the former clerk and former Council. A claim of unfair dismissal had been lodged by the Claimant against the then Community Council, following her dismissal in March 2006. The Employment Tribunal conducted a preliminary hearing in June 2007, after 2 previous hearing dates had been postponed. At this preliminary hearing the Chairman directed that the case would be heard by the full Tribunal Panel. The then Council had ceased to employ solicitors in November 2006, and the Chairman of the Tribunal did enquire as to whether the Respondent, namely Manorbier Community Council would be instructing solicitors. The staffing committee of Manorbier Community Council had decided in November 2006 that they could not afford to employ the services of a solicitor, and as such would be defending the claim against Manorbier Community Council themselves. Records held by the current Community Council appear to be incomplete, as there are no meeting minutes in the files to support this decision. Equally as the records are incomplete, it would appear that the then community council did not engage the services of a solicitor as there are no minutes of meetings to show any such decision being made. At the time of the movement towards a full Employment Tribunal Hearing, former Community Council Chairman Cllr T Wales, and former Proper Officer/Clerk Cllr D Neads were the points of contact for all Tribunal paperwork and as such were acting as the representatives of Manorbier Community Council. The first hearing date for the full Tribunal was set for November 2007. This hearing was ultimately postponed, and a new hearing date set for April 2008. This second hearing was opened, however the Respondent's representatives, Cllrs Wales and Neads, gave notice on the morning of the hearing that they would not be able to attend. As a result of this the hearing was once again postponed. In May 2008 a new Council was formed following the local community and council elections. When councillors came to take office, a number of the returning councillors resigned. Following the appointment of a new Chairman, a new council was formed after the remaining vacancies were filled following co-option and elections. The Council as It is comprised now, then had to deal with the ongoing Tribunal Case. Shortly after the formation of the council, the new Chairman received a letter from the Employment Tribunal requesting confirmation that he would be able to attend a new hearing date In March 2009. At this point, the Chairman returned to Council to discuss the matter further and the Council resolved to engage the services of solicitors Lowless & Lowless to represent them in all further dealings with the case, as they had a dedicated member of staff experienced in dealing with Employment Tribunal cases. Once the solicitors had been engaged new avenues of communication were established between the two parties. This led to a number of discussions within council as to whether the Tribunal case should be pursued, or whether it would be more appropriate to seek an out of court settlement. With this in mind, the present Chairman and Vice Chairman had a telephone conference call with barrister specialising in Tribunal Hearings, on the advice of Lowless & Lowless Solicitors. The barrister confirmed advice already given by Lowless & Lowless Solicitors that it would be more prudent to seek an out of court settlement for the following reasons - firstly that the Claimant was unfairly dismissed by the previous council due to the fact that the proper dismissal and grievance procedures were not followed. Secondly, the Council would have to admit that the claimant had been unfairly dismissed, which the present council did agree to as it was clearly evident that this was the case. In addition the fact the respondents, Cllr Wales & Neads, had failed to attend the hearing in April 2008 did not give the Council a favourable starting point for a hearing. Following this call, and bearing the advice of the barrister in mind, the Council discussed the options available and resolved to seek settlement out of court. The council had received advice that suggested the costs of the hearing alone could be in the region of £20,000, before any settlement payments were ordered. The Council instructed the solicitors to seek a settlement prior to the Tribunal Hearing which was achieved, resulting in a compromise agreement being signed by representatives of both parties, and a final settlement payment of £17,500 being paid to the Claimant. The costs of the tribunal case in the latter stages have amounted to £27,000 inclusive of the settlement payment. This has in turn impacted on the Precept figure set for the Community Council for the period 2009/2010, which has been set for this period at £31,680. Although the Tribunal case has now been settled, the Community Council are aware of an ongoing litigation involving two former members of the previous Community Council in a Defamation of Character case. If the case continues to a court hearing, it will be heard by the High Court, and as the circumstances of the case mean that the Community Council insurers are involved, the present community Council will be liable for 10% of the final settlement figure and 10% of the costs incurred by the party being funded by the insurance company. Further details cannot be given as the case is still ongoing. When setting the precept was discussed, advice was sought from Pembrokeshire County Council as to what allowance should be made for legal fees as it was known at the time that there were two cases ongoing. With this in mind the current council set the precept figure at £31,680, with an allowance of £15,000 earmarked for legal fees. The current council have taken the actions as they have to reduce the costs to the community as a whole. Although large costs have been incurred, and paid for by the members of the community, the current council have done all they can to reduce the level of the costs. It is hoped that the case still ongoing will be settled quickly, although this particular case is beyond the control of the council. As a council, we are now wishing to concentrate on ensuring the community is properly served and the interests of the community fully represented. We hope that the community will support the council in doing this. We wish to be open and all our activities clear and understandable, which is why this meeting has been called to ensure that the community are fully aware of the actions taken by this council to resolve the outstanding tribunal case inherited from the previous council. |