Local Authority Liable For Dismissal Of Teachers Where Decision Taken By Governing Body

Published date23 September 2021
Subject MatterEmployment and HR, Unfair/ Wrongful Dismissal, Redundancy/Layoff
Law FirmWinckworth Sherwood
AuthorWinckworth Sherwood

In the case of Gwynedd Council v Barratt [2021] EWCA Civ 1322 the Court of Appeal has upheld an employment tribunal's finding that a local authority was liable for the dismissal of two teachers at a community school by reason of redundancy despite the decision being taken by the governing body.

Issue

The case concerned a claim brought by two teachers for unfair redundancy dismissal. The claim was brought against the local authority. The local authority argued (amongst other things) that the dismissal of the teachers was fair and, even if it was found to be unfair, that the local authority could not be held liable for the decisions taken by the governing body to (i) dismiss the teachers and (ii) not offer them alternative employment at another school. They said this was because governing bodies were independent in law and therefore liability for the decisions attached to them and not the local authority.

Finding

The court disagreed with the argument advanced by the local authority. They considered the Staffing of Maintained Schools (Wales) Regulations 2006 (the Regulations) and the Education (Modification of Enactments Relating to Employment) (Wales) Order 2006 (the Order). The court concluded that:

  • The Order deemed the governing body of the maintained school employing a teacher to be the employer for certain purposes, but that did not mean that the governing body was the de facto employer of the teachers at its school or that the teachers had two employers.
  • The local authority remained the teachers' employer, save for limited purposes such as the exercise of powers under the Regulations and even then, the Order only applies where the governing body has actually exercised its power under the Regulations. In the present case this never happened. The Order was therefore irrelevant, and the local authority remained the teachers' employer at all material times and for all material purposes.
  • Furthermore, the Regulations did not produce the result that when a teacher is dismissed during a reorganisation of a local authority's schools there is no respondent against which they can bring an effective claim. The local authority, as employer remains subject to its obligations under the Employment Rights Act 1996. These include, where teachers are made redundant, the obligation to ensure that a fair process is followed.

Comment

Although the case was decided on the basis of the Welsh Regulations and Order, we expect that a similar finding would be made under the...

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