Sharon Shoesmith agrees payout over Baby P sacking

Sharon Shoesmith, who was director of children’s services at Haringey Council when Baby P was killed, has agreed on the terms of her payout with her former employers
The former head of Haringey children’s services, who was in charge during the Baby P scandal, has agreed a payout for unfair dismissal which could be up to £600,000, it has been reported

In 2011 a court ruled that Sharon Shoesmith, who earned £133,000 a year, had been unfairly sacked and made a “scapegoat” over the death of Peter Connelly.

He was 17 months old and had been on the “at risk” register for months when he died at the hands of his mother, Tracey Connelly, her boyfriend, Steven Barker, and their lodger, Jason Owen, after suffering more than 50 injuries in August 2007.

All three were jailed in 2009. It emerged Baby P had been seen by a string of social workers, police and health professionals, but they failed to take him into care.

Ed Balls, the then Education Secretary, said Mrs Shoesmith was not “fit for office” and she was summarily dismissed after a damning Ofsted report. She was fired without a payoff or pension, leading her to fight for compensation for loss of earnings and a settlement.

In 2011 the Court of Appeal ruled that she had been unfairly dismissed. She has now finally come to an agreement with her former employers.

Sources told the BBC’s Newsnight she will be paid a six-figure sum. However, while one said it could be up to £600,000, others have claimed that it is less than this, the programme reported.

A confidentiality clause prevents either Mrs Shoesmith or the council revealing the exact terms of the settlement.

A spokesperson for the Haringey Council said: “”Following the decision of the Court of Appeal in favour of Mrs Shoesmith, and the Court’s direction that the parties seek to resolve the issue of compensation, the London Borough of Haringey and Ms Shoesmith have reached a settlement in this case.

“The terms of the settlement are confidential. We are unable to comment further on this matter.”

There were initial unconfirmed reports that she was seeking £1 million payout.

If the current figure claimed is correct, the package is worth more than the minimum suggested by senior judge Lord Neuberger in his ruling, in which he said she was entitled to a minimum of three months’ salary, which would have amounted to £33,000, plus pensions contributions.

The judge had also suggested that the Department for Education should contribute to any payout, stating in his judgment: “It would be entirely appropriate for Haringey to seek a voluntary contribution from the Secretary of State whose unlawful directions gave rise to the problems.”

Although some of the funds for the payout are said to be coming from central government, a spokesperson for the Department of Education tonight refused to comment.

However, sources have claimed that Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, was “furious” about the confidentiality clause, describing it believing it to be “indefensible”.

Lawyers representing Haringey Council and Mrs Shoesmith are understood to have been in lengthy discussions regarding a payout since the May 2011 ruling, which they are understood to have finalised in the last few days.

Mrs Shoesmith had been due to return to court later this week, seeking a declaration that she remained employed by Haringey Council, but it is understood that the action has now been dropped.