Brent not commenting on Tewari allegations as Wembley Matters refuses to pull Audit Report

I understand that Brent Council is refusing to comment on the Davini allegations LINK as it would 'not be in the public interest'.

At the end of last week Fiona Ledden, head of Brent Legal and Procurement wrote 'requiring' me to take down the leaked documents. This is the correspondence:

Dear Mr Francis

I am most concerned that you have quoted on your website a number of documents that have been redacted and made available to a respondent in litigation, which is yet to be heard before a judicial panel. The documents are confidential and provided to the relevant party solely for an Employment Tribunal. The case has not yet commenced and releasing documents before the tribunal has started to hear the evidence is highly inappropriate.

I am requiring that you take down the documents which you have attached until the close of the proceedings.

I will be taking this matter up with the relevant party’s representative and during the hearing itself, I consider these documents to remain confidential until the tribunal lifts that confidentiality.

Yours sincerely

Fiona Ledden

Director of Legal and Procurement

London Borough Brent

Could you please tell me under what powers you are 'requiring that you take down the documents...'
Thank you
Martin Francis

Dear Mr Francis

My reasoning is that, except in certain circumstances that do not apply here, a party to whom a document has been disclosed in litigation may only use that document for the purposes of the proceedings in which they were disclosed. It is clear that these documents have been leaked from the court bundle, and therefore I request that you remove the attachments that you have placed on the blog.

Regards 

Fiona Ledden

Director of Legal and Procurement

London Borough Brent

It does not appear to me that you have any powers or authority to 'require' me to take down the attachments and I believe that the wider public interest is served by them remaining on Wembley Matters.
Regards,
Martin Francis

Over the weekend I edited the attachments so as to concentrate on the main issue, the Draft Audit Report, and that remains on the blog.

In my opinion this is a case of straightforward 'whistle blowing' backed up by the published document. We, the public, Brent taxpayers and council tax payers, have a right to know:

• How our money is spent
• How effectively the spending is monitored
• Whether employment practices are fair
• Whether all employees are treated equally regardless of their position in the authority
• Whether elected councillors have full knowledge of these matters
• What oversight councillors have over senior officer decisions on employment and disciplinary matters with the Corporate Management Team

Sir Alan Davies pleads guilty to six charges of false accounting but conspiracy to defraud charges dropped

Sir Alan outside Copland with David Cameron

Sir Alan Davies, the former headteacher of Copland Community School in Wembley, on trial at Southwark Crown Court today, pleaded guilty to six out of the eight charges against him.

He was on trial with others for allegedly misappropriating school funds from the school to a total of £2.7 million. The six charges were for false accounting.

He had originally pleaded not guilty. Observers suggest a plea bargain  might have been struck whereby the charges of conspiracy and money laundering were dropped for him to plead guilty to the lesser charges.

Hank Roberts, the original whistleblower, said:

He has admitted to six charges of false accounting after years of claiming his innocence. Why has it taken four years to bring this to trial? It's a school not a multinational. He wasted thousands and thousands of pounds of tax payers money by maintaining this façade of innocence causing a lengthy and expensive Brent Council and 'Fraud Squad' investigation”.

I was justified in my whistleblowing. Scrutiny and oversight of school finances has seriously been tightened up in Brent and to some extent around the country. The growth of academies and free schools, however, is only making the problem of adequate oversight worse.

Lesley Gouldbourne, Joint Brent Teachers Association Secretary, said:

It has taken four long years but at last the truth has come out. Now he should pay back Brent the cost of the investigation and lose his knighthood.

In its coverage of the story the Kilburn Times LINK states:

William Clegg QC, defending, said it was agreed with the prosecution ‘that all monies paid to Sir Alan were honestly paid to him and honestly received by him'.

Sir Alan will be sentenced tomorrow on the six false accounting charges to which he pleaded guilty.

Copland Community School recently failed its Ofsted inspection and an Interim Executive Board was appointed to replace the governing body. There have been two teachers' strikes over moves to force the school to become an academy.