Barking and Dagenham Council's Personnel Board convened on Tuesday, 14 October 2025, to address an appeal against dismissal. The meeting, held at the Town Hall in Barking, also considered excluding the public and press due to the confidential nature of the discussions.
The agenda included a resolution to potentially exclude the public and press from the remainder of the session. According to the public reports pack, this consideration, listed as item 4, stemmed from the discussion of matters relating to individual members of staff. The decision to exclude the public and press was influenced by the nature of the business to be transacted, specifically referencing individual members of staff. The report pack notes that this is exempt from publication under paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).
The board, comprised of Cllr Regina Rahman (Chair), Cllr Muazzam Sandhu (Deputy Chair), and Cllr Julia Williams, then moved into private session to discuss the appeal against dismissal. Documentation related to the appeal spanned pages 5 to 110 of the report pack. The specific details of the appeal were withheld from the public, citing paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, which allows for the confidentiality of information pertaining to individual members of staff. The specific grounds for the employee's dismissal, which led to the appeal, were not publicly available, as this was considered private business, exempt from publication under the aforementioned legislation.
