This post (first published in July 2019) really makes me sad and angry in equal measure.

I am posting it again today as a reminder of  Carys Kennedy’s legacy to the Council for some of her evil wrongdoings carried out during her tenure, notwithstanding the Constitutional Cons, the practice of manipulation, obfuscation and bad governance, the suppression of official reports, and the cover-up of the safeguarding failures of managers and officers related to a child protection incident at Ynysowen Primary School in February 2016.

I have removed the audio file as I find it too upsetting to listen to my son being humiliated and abused by Carys Kennedy and Fran Donnelly 😡The transcript is still shown below.

The cost to the Council £20k

Coincidentally, £20k was the financial severance payment if my son signed an NDA.

He declined that offer as he had done nothing wrong.

Carys Kennedy knew that the maximum compensation that my son could claim at an Employment Tribunal Hearing for unfair dismissal was £20k.

The original post

The Compromise Agreement/SOSR Meeting

I have decided to create this separate post to go through the transcript of the meeting held on 7th June 2016 and to make relevant comments and observations

This is an audio recording of the meeting

Featuring the dulcet tones of Carys Kennedy and Fran Donnelly, Mike Crimmings and, a totally flabbergasted, Chris Jones, Snr HR Officer and Safeguarding Whistleblower

I have removed this audio file as I find it too upsetting to listen to my son being humiliated and abused by Carys Kennedy and Fran Donnelly 😡The transcript is still shown below.

I must point out that Chris Jones (CJ) was given no prior notice of this meeting and what was the purpose of the meeting.

He had not been approached by Mike Crimmings (MC) about the issues raised at this meeting.

I reproduce below a copy of the transcript and I have included comments/observations/questions.

Transcript of Meeting on 7th June 2016

Present

Carys Kennedy  (CK)
Monitoring Officer

Fran Donnelly (FD)
HR Manager

Mike Crimmings (MC)
Local Unison Rep

Chris Jones (CJ)
Senior HR Officer


CK

OK. So difficult conversation at the moment.

You are aware of the schools that are pulling out of the HR SLA.

You have directly been cited.

As a result of that in that there is a complete breakdown in the trust and confidence between the Head Teachers and yourself.

We’ve looked at it, in the round, and in essence what they are doing is putting pressure on the LA that unless we take action on yourself they will not come back into the SLA ever.

So it gives the authority 2 options to consider in some respect whether to have a without prejudice conversation with you in relation to a compromise agreement to leave.

CJ

Serious?

Comment

This is the first time that a compromise agreement to leave has been raised with CJ.

CK

Yes.

Or whether to go down Some Other Substantive Dismissal Reason (SOSR) route to undertake an investigation as to whether a dismissal is feasible as a result of what the schools are threatening.

Comment

Dismissal under SOSR is a tool used by employers to get rid of employees that they cannot dismiss under the normal employment practices i.e. Gross Misconduct,  Capabilty or Redundancy.

Its in the context Chris of there having been concerns about your practice for a while

COMMENT

If there had been concerns about CJs practice for a while.

What were those concerns?

Surely, those concerns should have been dealt with as a CAPABILITY issue.

and you know that Fran has had conversations with you and she went through a close management sequence with you because of some concerns about things.

Concerns about advice you have given historically, for example, in St. Illtyds and we have put that into context .

COMMENT

Were these historical problems regarding advice not dealt with as a CAPABILITY issue?

St Illtyds school is not part of the Southern Cluster.

So we now have schools saying that they aren’t prepared to have you as the officer providing HR advice and that then Fran looked at if there were ways we could reorganise.

Is there a way that we could move you away from that kind of work – and THERE ISN’T.

COMMENT

So the possibility of a departmental reorganisation had been considered and RULED OUT.

Because the amount of work that would need to be done would mean that in certain respects whatever else we gave you to do there would still be some overlap into work with schools which they are not prepared to agree.

CJ

This is a shock.

Obviously.

CK

Of course it is.

COMMENT

This is total lack of empathy from CK.

She just let’s CJs emotional reaction fly over her head and just continues with her patter

CJ

I don’t understand why I couldn’t work in the area that PW works in, for example, and just swap that around  because PW hasn’t had any involvement with schools, I don’t think.

He used to but not in the way the structure currently is.

CK

So the option at the moment is to have this Without Prejudice conversation with you  in relation to you leaving the Authority.

So that’s going ahead at the moment.

COMMENT

CK makes no response CJs comments.

She just continues.

CJ

I don’t want to leave.

Total shock really.

I have been here  14/15 years whatever it is.

CK

So there’s that conversation I’ll have with a compromise agreement and the ACAS letter in relation to that offer.

Mike has already seen a copy of that. Yes.

So will do that today.

COMMENT

Again CK shows no empathy towards CJs emotional  reaction.

And then should you not wish to go under the Without Prejudice route  then will have to open up an investigation in relation to SOSR and at that point all those options to redeployment and relooking at restructure of HR will be considered as part of that.

What of course that will leave the schools putting on record what their concerns are.

So, at the moment, it’s anecdotal evidence

COMMENT

I find it hard to believe that a Compromise Agreement or SOSR situation can be arrived at purely on ANECDOTAL evidence.

as in they said to myself and the Unions that the breakdown is with yourself and not with anyone else in the Department.

CJ

Which Heads?

MC

Southern Cluster

CJ

The only person I know has got an issue is SR.

She didn’t like it that I advised a SERWOCA investigation.

So she personalised that.

MC

Well.

When I met with the Heads Chris.

I don’t want to say too much.

All I will say is it wasn’t just SR when I met with the Heads.

It wasn’t just her.

COMMENT

So, CJs so-called Union Rep had attended meetings with HR and Head Teachers and Representatives of other Unions.

But he had not had any previous discussion with CJ on the matter.

CJ

But I haven’t dealt with any of the other ones of late on anything.

MC

Can I clarify that on these 2 routes the Compromise Agreement obviously there would be a positive good reference on Plan A.

COMMENT

It would appear that MC had no intention of actually representing CJ.

He seems to be attempting to assist the Managers by explaining the ‘positive’ point of getting a good reference for signing a NDA (Compromise Agreement).

CK

Yes.

MC

And Plan B obviously

CK 

Depends on what the outcome of the SOSR investigation would be.

CJ

The Compromise Agreement to me is, unless you are talking about a lot of money.

I’ve got 3 children and a mortgage.

There’s no guarantee that I would be able to walk into another job.

I want my job here.

I want a job here.

MC

Can I suggest Chris that we stop where we are at the moment.

Obviously, its been a shock.

COMMENT

MC stating the OBVIOUS again.

CJ

You can say that again Mike.

MC

Its a lot to consider.

Could I suggest that now Chris goes home and come to see me tomorrow first thing in the morning.

COMMENT

Lots of ’empathy’ from MC.

CJ

Yes.

That would be my first question.

First of all I think the schools have been influenced by one Head Teacher in the main and that’s based on an inappropriate judgement of my ability based on her being subject to a child protection investigation.

COMMENT

This is the TRUTH. The Head Teacher’s reaction was malicious and spiteful.

That aside, Ok there’s nothing I can do if they have been influenced by SR and they all hate my guts and they don’t want to work with me.

This is my career.

I love HR.

I studied it at college and I’ve worked in it ever since.

This is what I want to do.

I live in Merthyr.

I’ve worked here for 14 years whatever.

So, if possible, I would like to swap.

There must be.

I’d even drop down to a lower level if it meant keeping a job.

COMMENT

CJ referred, in the ET, to the fact that he would have taken a job on a lower grade.

FD disputed that at the ET.

But this is proof that he had made that comment.

Also, Simon  Jones, Snr Solicitor,  wrote a letter to CJ, as part of the Disciplinary Process, indicating that it would not be possible for him to have any other job in HR.

This was contrary to Employment Law.

It was ILLEGAL.

CK

Ok.

Obviously, I mean it is a huge shock.

CJ

Its a massive shock.

I can’t believe it.

CK

And its very difficult.

We don’t expect you to give any kind of answer sitting here because you have to go away and have a think about it and we’ve heard what you have just said and all of those things and Fran and I need to have further discussions about all of those things.

But we haven’t reached this point just as a knee jerk reaction.

You may be aware of the huge amount of work that’s been going on trying to work with the Southern Cluster Schools to try and identify what all this is about and whether there were any ways around it and Fran has spent loads of time as has Mike and the Unions trying to work with the schools to find a way around it and this is what we’ve come down to that it was very much about you were, as the particular person in HR that they were not prepared to work with and if they do withdraw we are looking at making a number of people redundant.

So that’s not something that you need to be worried about

COMMENT

Wow!

What a piece of coercion.

Stating that a number of people would be made redundant if he did not accept the offer.

  but in the balance of what happens to the organisation there are a number of people who may have to leave if we cannot resolve this issue.

COMMENT

Even though CK had mentioned the redundancy issues and said that CJ need not be worried about it, she raises it again.

MC

Can I ask a question. When would be the cut off point when Chris could consider the Compromise Agreement.

COMMENT

MC helping out the Mangers again.

FD

10 days from today to come back with the Yay or Nay with the proposed effective date of termination being 30th June with payment in lieu of notice as it would stand and then the amount in relation to the settlement.

CJ

How much is that?

FD

4 months gross wages in relation to the settlement amount and then 3 months in lieu of notice.

CJ

So 7 months.

FD

Yes. £20,750.

CJ

I want my job.

I want a job.

CK

We can hear that Chris but what its a very emotional thing and we want you to go way and think about it.

This is the process we are setting in train.

Obviously, you have got options.

You can say that you don’t accept the compromise but what I need you to do is talk to Mike about that in the morning because there are issues about an investigation that would have to be raised.

So you have got to think about all the consequences of all of the issues

COMMENT

Sounds like yet another piece of coercion.

but you are not going to think about that now.

You are just going to be thinking about the shock of having this said.

So think about it and meet with Mike in the morning and have a think about what you want to do.

COMMENT

Everyone realises that CJ needs to think about things.

Get away!

MC

You need to think at the moment Chris.

You need some time to think.

COMMENT

TIME INDEED

CJ

OK. See you tomorrow.

I don’t know what to say.

Absolutely stunned.

CK

Don’t try to say anything now. Its not the time.

COMMENT

One final piece of ’empathy’.

The Truth is out there