FOI reveals 20 council staff suspended, 10 sacked, in two years

18th August 2021

Sefton Council have suspended over 20 staff, sacking a subsequent 10 in the last two years.

While the council won’t divulge which staff have been sacked, local politicians have indicated they believe the number includes former senior members of staff.

From 2019-2021, 24 members of staff have been suspended in line with the council’s disciplinary process. Only 8 of those suspended staff have since returned to active employment in the council, while ten staff have had their contracts terminated.

A council spokesperson said: “Sefton Council has clear procedures and guidelines for conduct in the workplace, which apply to all the authority’s centrally-employed 4,500-plus staff. Staff are made aware when they join the authority.

“Part of this process are disciplinary measures which for some cases include suspension and dismissal, after the full procedures have been followed.

“As with most organisations, there are some employees who choose not to abide by the policies in place and we are satisfied that over the past two and a half years, our robust procedure has identified and dealt with that small number which represents around half of one percent of our overall workforce.”

The data was revealed following a Freedom Of Information Request by the Liverpool Echo.