The Employee Appeals Sub Committee was scheduled to convene to address an appeal against an employee dismissal, and to note the appeals hearing structure. The meeting was scheduled to begin with some preliminary items, before moving into a closed session to discuss the appeal.

Employee Dismissal Appeal

The majority of the meeting was scheduled to be held in exclusion of the press and public, to allow the committee to consider an appeal against an employee dismissal.

The Agenda frontsheet states that the committee was scheduled to hear both the appellant's case and the management's case.

The Appeal Hearing Structure document outlines the order in which the appeal was scheduled to be heard:

• The appellant was scheduled to present their case, including supportive evidence, documentation, and witnesses.
• The members hearing the appeal were scheduled to ask questions of the appellant and any witnesses.
• The manager presenting the case was scheduled to ask points of clarification of the appellant or witnesses.
• The manager was then scheduled to present their case, explaining why the original decision was considered appropriate.
• The members hearing the appeal may ask questions of the manager and their witnesses.
• The appellant (or their representative) may ask for points of clarification from the manager or their witnesses.
• The appellant and manager were each scheduled to provide concluding remarks.

The Appeal Hearing Structure document also states that the function of the appeal is to consider the evidence in light of the submissions made by the appellant, together with the council's response, and to decide upon the fairness and reasonableness of the decision. It clarifies that the appeal is a review process, not a rehearing.

The panel was scheduled to consider whether any new evidence had been presented which was not heard by the deciding manager, and whether the decision was procedurally correct.

Appeals against disciplinary action will only be considered on one or more of the following reasons:

• The procedure, where the grounds of appeal detail how procedural irregularities prejudiced the disciplinary decision.
• The facts, where there was a failure to take account of material evidence.
• The decision, where the decision did not justify the level of disciplinary sanction imposed, and the panel will decide if the decision was a decision a reasonable employer could reasonably make.

Exclusion of Press and Public

The committee was scheduled to consider a recommendation to exclude the press and public from the meeting during the consideration of the appeal against employee dismissal.

The Agenda frontsheet notes that this recommendation was made under the provisions of Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972¹, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985, on the grounds that the information to be discussed is defined as Exempt in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

Declarations of Interest

Councillors were asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests² (DPIs) or non-DPI interests relating to items on the agenda.

A note from the Monitoring Officer³ included in the Public reports pack provided guidance on DPIs, non-DPI interests, and declarations of interest not included in the register of members' interests. It also provided guidance on predetermination and bias, and referred to Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, which restricts members in council tax arrears from voting.