Balls is criticised for his unfair comments on Shoesmith sacking
Children’s Secretary Ed Balls has been criticised by a High Court judge over comments he made at the time of Sharon Shoesmith’s sacking in 2008.
Despite the ruling last week that the decision to sack Shoesmith was lawful, summarising his findings, Mr Justice Foskett said that while the process was fair, Shoesmith had not been given an opportunity to refute certain claims made by Balls to the public.
He referred to Balls’ statement in a press conference that Shoesmith was “not fit to hold office”, and that she had insufficient oversight of her deputy – claims that did not appear in the Ofsted report on Haringey.
Judge Foskett also said Balls’ assertion at a press conference following the 1 December 2008 sacking that Shoesmith should not receive compensation, should have been avoided.
“His [Balls’] statutory role in relation to the claimant [Shoesmith] and her deputy ended when he made the directions he did on 1 December,” Foskett wrote.
“If newspapers or other commentators wished to suggest what the outcome should have been, they were entitled to do so. But the Secretary of State should not have been seen to support those views.”
Shadow children’s secretary Michael Gove said he believed Balls made the right decision in sacking Shoesmith. But Gove renewed the Conservatives’ call to publish serious case reviews, saying they would create a greater sense of openness, and described Balls as a “person of the old culture, politics and ways of doing things”.
