Do you want to know what 10 redacted legal invoices (6 on employment matters) paid by Wirral Council state?
10 invoices for legal work (6 involving HR) to Wirral Council
As had written before that I’d publish some legal invoices relating to Wirral Council’s HR function, which I requested as part of the 2013/14 audit.
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1 Committee: HR
The first (two A4 pages) is from Sharpe Pritchard (numbered 14), transaction 202652 from 2nd May 2013 for £25,698.
It’s dated 31st March 2013 and is for legal services in the matter of:- (the rest is blacked out) in the period January to March of 2013 totalling £15,540.
It carries over to a second page where it states it’s also for Counsel’s fees of £5,875 in the (blacked out) hearing.
These two amounts total £21,415.00. VAT of £4,283.00 is then added making a grand total of £25,698.00.
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2: Committee HR
The next is also a two A4 page invoice, this time from Tim D N Kenward of 7 Harrington Street Chambers. It was dated 19th April 2013 and Wirral Council is the defendant in the case of Gregory Eyitene v Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. It is for £900 and relates to 19 pages of written advice and an amended draft letter (3 pages) that took 6 hours.
It also relates to a previously paid invoice of £1875.00 for an 18 pages submission on grounds of appeal, plus advice by telephone, email, perusal of documentation with regards to disciplinary proceedings.
This totals to £750 (£125/hour * 6) + VAT of £150 = £900. Colin Hughes was the solicitor at Wirral Council that dealt with this matter and the file reference is CJH/LHRAM/25270.
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3: Committee HR
This is also a two A4 page invoice of Tim D N Kenward of 7 Harrington Street Chambers. It was dated 19th June 2013 and Wirral Council is the defendant in the case of Gregory Eyitene v Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. It is for £3,660.00.
This is for:
Skeleton argument 5 hours preparation £750 + VAT (£150) = £900
List of authorities and paginated bundle of authorities and letter to Employment Appeal Tribunal 2 hours £300 + VAT (£60) = £360
Brief on hearing listed and prepared for preliminary hearing – Prep 10 hours, travel 4 hours, waiting 15 minutes hearing 2 hours 15 minutes £2,000 + VAT (£400) = £2,400
Total: £3,660.00.
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4: Committee EDU
This is an invoice from Sharpe Pritchard dated 18th July 2013 for £10,080. This is for legal services from April to May 2013 in the matter of (blacked out).
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5: Committee HR
This is an invoice from Jonathan Manning of Arden Chambers for £1,800 dated 26th July 2013. This is for 6 hours of advice given on the 8th March 2013 @ £250/hour (+VAT) in a “Determination of Employment” matter involving Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. The blacked out bit of the line after DX 33016 is “CARDIFF”.
It appears a duplicate of invoice 6 but with more redaction.
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6. Committee HR
This is an invoice from Jonathan Manning of Arden Chambers for £1,800 dated 26th July 2013. This is for 6 hours of advice given on the 8th March 2013 @ £250/hour (+VAT) in a “Determination of Employment” matter involving Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.
It appears a duplicate of invoice 5 but with more redaction.
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7. Committee ???
This is an interim invoice for £1,598.40 (including VAT) from Wilkin Chapman LLP. It was dated 16th October 2013 and is for advice to Wirral Council’s Monitoring Officer in August 2013.
Charges
It includes £1,190 (+VAT £238.00) total £1,428.00
Expenses
It includes an amount of £11.60 (+VAT of £2.30) total £13.80 for subsistence.
It also includes expenses for £130.50 (+VAT of £26.10) total £156.60. However the reason for this £156.60 is blacked out.
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8. Committee ENV
This is an invoice for £607.50 from Ruth Stockley of Kings Chamber for email advice (2.25 hours). She charges £225/hour (+VAT). The invoice dated 19th November 2013 and it’s to do with a planning case.
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9. Committee HR
This is an invoice for £2,220.00 from Tim D N Kenward of 7 Harrington Street Chambers. It was dated 7th January 2014. Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council is the defendant.
It is for the following:
9/12/13 Respondents Notice (8 pages) £350
20/12/13 Skeleton Argument (19 pages) 4 hours £750
3/1/14 Written advice (11 pages)
Notice of application (2 pages)
Draft order (2 pages)
Statement in support of application (10 pages)
Total 4 hours £750
Total £1850
VAT £370
Total Due £2,220
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10.
This is an invoice for a 1 year subscription from 2/4/14 to 1/4/15 for “Law of Food & Drugs” from LexisNexis. Invoice was dated 3rd March 2014 and is for £1659.
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Mr Brace with respect if you are trying to say something in your blogs, then please come out and say it.
Well, that Wirral Council is not complying with s.15 of the Audit Commission Act 1998 as when documents are requested at audit it obliterates the names of its officers (allowed), but also the names of its contractors and other information relating to the invoice. It seems they don’t seem to know the difference between names of its own staff and outside contractors.
It gives no (or little) explanation as to why. Also when documents are requested (in July 2014) in some cases I’m still waiting in November 2014!!!
Mr Brace, I can see where your coming from, however, you have to take the Law as a Whole, not pick little bits out. For Instance, you have a number of other Statutes, that say deal with Audit, Procurement, Governance and redaction is not an option, in fact if you keep the Original or Certified Copies
of Documents that is even better. I am quite surprised that nobody has put in an FOI request to the DCLG for unredacted papers
Yes there is a balancing act to be struck, but the whole point of the law is that it provides a bar below which people should not go, otherwise there are consequences (whether financial or in people’s liberty). Without consequences there is no deterrent.
Because as soon as you start asking questions in Bigger Circles, those people will want to know why you are asking them, rather than going to the initial Source or the Small Pond. If your intention was to warn me how much they have spent on trying to Destroy a Possible Staff Member’s reputation. I can tell you they have spent a Lot more money on me already and they have not finished spending out yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The former member of staff referred to in the invoices was one of the solicitors working for Wirral Council.
If there’s one category (amongst many) you try and treat right to avoid a lawsuit, it’s solicitors as they are far more likely to sue and also know what their legal rights are.
Your a Good Man Mr Brace
I was unsure in which catagory, this one or the one below, but as this is the Advice Page, I thought why not put it in this one ” Makes Sense ” Has anybody considered a Book on ” Protection of Children ” or read the Clothier Report (Beverley Allitt)?
It’s what happens in practice rather than in books that is more important in protecting children.
No I haven’t read the Clothier Report (Beverley Allitt).