PCC Pays Out £56,000 After Committee Claimed They Were Unfairly Dismissed

Leicestershire’s Police and Crime Commissioner has paid out £56,000 in compensation after an advisory group claimed it had been dismissed unfairly.

Rupert Matthews replaced the ethics, integrity and complaints committee with a new ethics and transparency panel.

He said the previous group was “not focused enough” and the new panel was more in line with his police and crime plan.

Seven members of former committee have each received £8,000, although the payouts do not include an admission of liability.

Rupert Matthews outside Market Harborough Police Station

Mr Matthews, who says he invited them to put their names forward to sit on the new panel, says he understands they ‘felt aggrieved’ by the decision, but found it ‘very disappointing’ the ex-members felt it appropriate to seek financial recompense from the public purse”.

He said: “It is of course regrettable that this situation arose and while I would have preferred matters to have been settled without financial recourse, I saw no point in prolonging things any further.

“Therefore, to curtail the financial cost of taking this matter to a Tribunal which would have hinged on a legal technicality, it was felt that a financial settlement for each member was the most economically expedient option.

“I would like to make it absolutely clear that my decision to wind-up the former Committee had nothing to do with political allegiances, or challenge to my approach. ”