Post by Focus on Jun 21, 2013 4:40:13 GMT
At least 1,000 gagging orders have been signed by government departments and the NHS since the general election, costing taxpayers a ‘staggering’ £28 million.
An official report has uncovered at least 1,053 examples – one a day over the past three years – of the public sector paying off staff and buying their silence by getting them to sign confidentiality clauses.
The highest payment of £266,000, which was described as ‘obscene’, was made by the Department of Health. The department accounted for more than a third of the ‘compromise agreements’ exposed by the National Audit Office.
The highest payment of £266,000, which was described as 'obscene', was made by the Department of Health. The department accounted for more than a third of the 'compromise agreements' exposed by the National Audit Office
There are claims that the agreements have been used to prevent Health Service executives speaking out about poor care in hospitals.
The spending watchdog found that across government there were 44 payments of £100,000 or more, and 110 of between £50,000 and £100,000.
Three other departments, Education, Justice and the Home Office, bought people’s silence with more than £200,000. The highest average payment – more than £76,000 – was at the Department for International Development.
No fewer than 98 per cent of the compromise agreements uncovered included confidentiality clauses, and even though the law is meant to protect whistleblowers, many recipients told the NAO they felt they had been gagged.
The real number of compromise agreements will be far higher because not all are recorded by the Treasury.
They do not include the millions handed out by councils and the BBC.
The report by the NAO condemned the lack of ‘transparency, consistency and accountability’ around the agreements.
The findings were condemned by Margaret Hodge, chairman of the powerful Commons public accounts committee.
‘It is staggering that no one has any idea how many compromise agreements are used and whether, overall, they are value for money,’ she said. ‘Pulling disparate bits of information together reveals a worrying picture.
‘It is illegal for a compromise agreement to be used to stop people from whistleblowing. But this is not made clear enough and some people who have signed these agreements say they feel like they had been gagged.
‘It is simply unacceptable for people who speak up about failures in service delivery to feel like they have been silenced in this way.
‘There are individual cases where obscene amounts have been approved; as much as £266,000 in the Department of Health and £120,000 in the Ministry of Defence.
Three other departments, Education, Justice and the Home Office (above), bought people's silence with more than £200,000
‘The centre of government must take control and assure itself that the use of these agreements is not squandering taxpayers’ money or covering up government failures. The current state of affairs cannot continue.’
The report found that the Treasury had approved £11.2 million in severance payments by the Department of Health in the three years to March.
One Ministry of Justice pay-off was £250,000, while the top figures at the Home Office and Department for Education were £225,000.
The level of payments across most departments has been rising in recent years. The law states that compromise agreements are not allowed to prevent whistleblowing, and the NAO said that none did.
But the report said: ‘Some people we spoke to who had been offered, or accepted, compromise agreements have felt gagged.
‘An organisation’s culture, the events leading up to the person being offered an agreement, and the wording of the agreements contributed to whether the individual felt gagged.
‘Legal advice to the employee is a prerequisite of making a compromise agreement legally enforceable.
However, the individuals we spoke to felt that it was not generally made clear that confidentiality clauses do not prevent employees from raising legitimate public interest concerns.’
The NAO also criticized the way the pay-offs were often used to get rid of poorly performing members of staff.
These workers were given good references, meaning they could get jobs elsewhere in the public sector.
[At least 1,000 gagging orders have been signed by government departments and the NHS since the general election, costing taxpayers a ‘staggering’ £28 million] - The taxpayer hammered yet again for someone else's mistakes ... I'm beginning to lose the will to live ffs! - Fx