Deposed Council Chief Executive Was Lawfully Dismissed

The procedure for making council employees redundant has been examined in the case of a former chief executive who was dismissed after her local authority switched to an elected mayor system (R on the application of Lock v Leicester City Council).

 

Sheila Lock sought judicial review of decisions leading up to her 2011 dismissal, arguing that Leicester City Council had breached local authority employment regulations in the way it had dealt with her case.

 

The High Court heard that Ms Lock’s three-year tenure as chief executive came to an end after the city’s incoming elected mayor proposed the abolition of her post. She was sent a letter shortly after the election, telling her that the role was to be ‘deleted’ and she should ‘treat this letter as a formal notice of redundancy’.

 

The full council approved the abolition of the chief executive role the following month and, after her in-house appeal was rejected, Ms Lock was dismissed.



She sought judicial review of the process leading up to her departure, claiming that the redundancy letter had wrongly been sent to her before the full council had ratified the abolition of her role.

 

The council’s lawyers submitted that the letter only informed her that she was ‘recommended’ for dismissal and made clear that the final decision still lay with councillors.

 

Finding that Ms Lock’s dismissal was ‘lawful’, the Court rejected her claim, but did criticise the way in which she had been informed that her post was to be abolished. Judge Kaye said, “I can well understand the criticisms of the infelicitous and ill-judged language and drafting of the letter. But it has to be remembered that the letter is just that; it is not a lease or mortgage and must be read reasonably and sensibly and in context as it would be understood by a reasonable person reading it with relevant knowledge.”

 

He added, “In my judgment, despite the infelicitous wording of the letter, there has been no material irregularity, unlawfulness, unfairness or irrationality in the decision to dismiss her as chief executive.”

 

Ms Lock also lodged a claim before an Employment Tribunal, which was stayed pending the outcome of the judicial review proceedings.