Sacked British Council manager loses employment tribunal case

Angela Gibbins was dismissed from her role as head of global estates in August last year after making comments about the royal family on a Facebook post

A former senior manager at the British Council who was sacked over anti-monarchy comments on a Facebook post that described Prince George as “a f***ing d***head” has lost her employment tribunal claim for wrongful dismissal and discrimination.

Angela Gibbins was dismissed from her £77,800-a-year job as head of global estates at the British Council on 8 August 2016, after comments she had made on Facebook criticising the monarchy and Prince George appeared in The Sun newspaper, causing a backlash against her and the charity.

The Queen is the patron of the British Council, which had an income of £979.6m in the year to 31 March 2016.

An image of Prince George was posted by the band the Dub Pistols on its Facebook page, with the caption “I know he’s only 2 years old, but Prince George already looks like a f***ing d***head”. The band added: “Too much?”

In a discussion with friends underneath the picture, which Gibbins said she believed was visible only to her 150 Facebook friends, Gibbins commented: “White privilege. That cheeky grin is the (already locked-in) innate knowledge that he is royal, rich, advantaged and will never know *any* difficulties or hardships in life. Let’s find photos of 3yo Syrian refugee children and see if they look alike, eh?”

She went on to say she did not hate any human being, but added: “I don’t believe the royal family have any place in a modern democracy, least of all when they live on public money.”

Tribunal papers published last week say it was unclear how the comments came into the public domain, but they might have been passed on by one of Gibbins’ friends or been visible to friends of friends.

The Sun’s initial coverage of the comments failed to make clear that Gibbins herself was not responsible for the obscene remark about Prince George in the picture’s caption, and provoked outrage against the charity and calls for Gibbins to be sacked.

An internal British Council investigation into the incident concluded that Gibbins had, although inadvertently, breached the council’s code of conduct in making the comments and brought the charity into disrepute, according to the tribunal papers.

Gibbins took the charity to tribunal, arguing that she had been discriminated against because of her republican beliefs and had been unfairly or wrongfully dismissed.

But the tribunal, which heard the case in July, rejected her claims, concluding there had been “reckless risk-taking” and “gross misconduct” by Gibbins in posting the comments.

The tribunal document says it concluded Gibbins was seen to have bought the charity into disrepute and sacked not because she expressed a republican belief, but because “she had associated herself with a distasteful and personal attack on a small child”.

The tribunal report says that, although an employer might have chosen to discipline Gibbins without sacking her, no member of the tribunal could say it was unreasonable to dismiss her.

“Clearly the claimant deserves some sympathy for her slip of judgment, but that does not mean the decision was unfair,” the report says.

A British Council spokeswoman said: “While we recognise the difficult nature of this process for all involved, we are pleased that the tribunal has found in our favour in relation to all of the claims. The British Council looks to act with integrity and respect in all that we do to promote the UK and our position in the world.”

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Watch: Resuscitation Council launches practical Lifesaver VR app

The Resuscitation Council has turned to virtual reality to produce a “unique” practical video that teaches people what to do when someone has a cardiac arrest.

Lifesaver VR is a free app designed to teach effective CPR skills and provide people with the confidence to use them in an emergency situation. The charity said the film-in-a-game app is suitable for everyone to use but it has targeted younger people by creating a teen-based scenario in the video.

The viewer is placed in a life-or-death situation through the eyes of Chloe, whose friend Harry has collapsed. To play the game, users interactively control her reactions through the VR headset. The game begins in VR cinema format and then enters full 360-degree video as the user performs CPR by pushing down on a firm cushion. The VR headset senses the user’s movements and gives feedback on performance. It’s up to the user to make sure Harry survives his cardiac arrest.

This new scenario has also been added to the original Lifesaver app, which now has four different linear scenarios. The original Lifesaver has seen more than 700,000 people trained in CPR since its launch in 2013.

Dr Andy Lockey, honorary secretary of the Resuscitation Council (UK), said: “Lifesaver continues to be a revolution in terms of easy-access, free, ‘app’-based education for these essential life-saving skills. Lifesaver VR takes this to the next level and utilises cutting-edge technology to deliver an even more realistic experience.”

The Lifesaver VR app is available through iTunes and Google Play for iPhone and Android phones and from visiting http://lifesavervr.org.uk. Lifesaver, the non-virtual reality option, is also available for download through iTunes and Google Play, and can be played in a web browser by visiting http://lifesaver.org.uk.

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Stay in the box or we’ll fine you, Newcastle council tells fundraisers

Newcastle City Council yesterday introduced a public space protection order that restricts fundraisers to areas measuring 8ft by 3ft at the top and bottom of the high street

Street fundraisers in Newcastle upon Tyne could face fines of £100 if they step outside one of two areas measuring 8ft by 3ft at the top and bottom of the high street, under new rules introduced by the local authority.

The rules were brought in by Newcastle City Council after its plans to ban face-to-face fundraising completely were challenged by the Institute of Fundraising.

Instead of an outright ban, the council has introduced a public space protection order, which will prevent fundraisers operating outside the two small designated areas, marked out on the ground with tape.

In addition, the order, which came into force yesterday, prevents more than two fundraisers at a time from operating on the site, and they will be allowed to do so only from 10am to 4pm on two days a week, which must not be consecutive days.

They will be allowed to operate on only one day a week in December, and will not be able to fundraise if a separate charity street collection is taking place.

Only one organisation will be allowed to fundraise on behalf of one charity each day and will have to apply at least six weeks in advance. Fundraisers will have to wear branded jackets, which they will have to remove when they are on breaks, according to the rules.

Any breach of these rules could result in a £100 fixed-penalty notice from the council or a police officer, the council said.

The IoF was unable to persuade the council to sign up to a site-management agreement to manage face-to-face fundraising in the city.

Nick Kemp, cabinet member for regulation at the council, said it had listened to the public when drawing up the new rules, which he described as a “proportionate response”.

He said: “Face-to-face fundraising has caused nuisance and annoyance to people, so we have used our public space protection order to deal with this.

“We believe this strikes the right balance and will put an end to the dark days when fundraisers would spread themselves out across Northumberland Street and accost people as they went about their daily business.

“We hope the public will agree with this approach while giving charities the chance to continue to raise money.”

Mike Smith, head of external affairs at the IoF said the organisation had been working with Newcastle council over the past year.

“We are glad that they have moved away from a disproportionate total ban towards these more measured proposals,” he said.

But he added: “We strongly feel that site-management agreements are a better way to more effectively manage street fundraising, working in collaboration with charities and in a way that doesn’t bring extra costs and administration to the council or local services.”

Under SMAs, which are currently operating in 126 other local authorities, the IoF administers and enforce the agreement, rather than the council. According to the IoF, 90 per cent of councils with an SMA would recommend one to other local authorities.

Smith said: “We are in regular contact with Newcastle council as these new measures are introduced, and will continue to work with the council on behalf of charity fundraisers raising money for vital causes.”

Newport City Council in Wales, Swindon Borough Council in Wiltshire and Kettering Borough Council in Northamptonshire have all introduced PSPOs in the past two years.

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Tribunal orders Scottish Refugee Council to pay two former staff £27,000

A Glasgow employment tribunal found the charity had unfairly dismissed two former refugee integration advisers

The Scottish Refugee Council has been ordered by an employment tribunal to pay two former employees almost £27,000 in compensation and expenses for unfair dismissal and discrimination.

In a judgment issued by the Glasgow employment tribunal last week, the SRC was found to have unfairly dismissed Stephen McGuire and Petra Kasparek from their roles as refugee integration advisers on 30 June 2016.

As a result, the tribunal ordered the charity to rehire McGuire on or before 31 July 2017 on his previous pay and conditions, and pay him arrears of wages of £6,084.09 and expenses of £1,200.

Kasparek was found to have been discriminated against because she was on maternity leave and was compensated with £8,466.02 and £10,000 compensation for injury to feelings as a result of the charity’s discrimination.

Of this figure, £4,487.35 is payable to the public purse because Kasparek had been receiving unemployment benefit after her dismissal.

She was also granted £1,200 reimbursement of fees in taking the case to court.

Kasparek and McGuire worked for the charity’s refugee integration service, which was principally funded by a two-year, £2m grant from the Big Lottery Fund that ended on 30 June 2016, the judgment said.

The SRC made a formal application for a second grant from the BLF at some point before the original grant was due to run out, but became aware that a decision would not be made until August and decided to give notice of the risk of redundancy to the four refugee integration advisers.

A second application was made to the BLF for development funding, which would have kept the service running until a long-term decision was reached, but it was rejected.

Kasparek, while funded by the grant, was on an indefinite contract and went on maternity leave in June 2015. McGuire, who was previously on a temporary contract, was employed as maternity cover, according to the judgment.

Kasparek gave notice of her intention to return from maternity leave on 12 May 2016, but decided to take her accrued annual leave until 4 July 2016.

The affected staff were given formal notices of dismissal. The tribunal found there was “no attempt by the respondent to consult with any of the individual recipients of these letters when they were issued” or prior to 13 June 2016.

The SRC board then decided to retain two of the four affected refugee integration advisers for two months from the end of the grant, with all four affected staff undergoing interviews to decide who would be retained.

Kasparek was not included in many of the communications sent out by the charity to those affected by the redundancy decision, the tribunal found.

It said she was disadvantaged in the interview process for the two temporary roles because she was unable to refer to recent examples of work, having been on maternity leave. She also appealed her dismissal, which she lost, although McGuire did not make an appeal.

Kasparek was unemployed until 3 October 2016, but her new role paid £94 a week less than her previous salary.

The BLF grant application was eventually successful and ran for two years from 1 September 2016, but Kasparek was not reappointed.

McGuire took some temporary employment before finding a new job.

The tribunal’s judgment said that it was not impressed with the evidence provided by John Wilkes, chief executive of the SRC at the time of the redundancies, and Kes Cameron, head of finance and administration. It said that Wilkes had “a surprisingly poor understanding of the respondent’s policies and procedures” and Cameron was “clearly and significantly lacking in experience or understanding of the role of a manager conducting an appeal against dismissal”.

In a statement, Gary Christie, interim chief executive of the SRC, said: “SRC always seeks to retain the expertise of our highly dedicated staff. However, like many charities, we face difficult staffing decisions in tight timeframes when project funding streams come to an end and no new funding is in place.

“The tribunal decision shows that in this instance we got it wrong. The board and management team will carefully consider the judgment in detail. The charity will implement all necessary actions, including an audit of our HR processes, to make sure that when difficult redundancy situations regrettably arise in the future we do so equitably and in line with our policies.”

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Merger of National Council for Palliative Care and Hospice UK to be finalised this week

Half of the NCPC’s 14 staff have moved to Hospice UK, and the merger will be completed on 1 July

The National Council for Palliative Care will be absorbed into Hospice UK when the charities finalise their merger later this week.

The merger, which will be completed on 1 July, is being carried out to help the two charities expand their work, reduce duplication of effort and build on the already close working relationship between the two organisations, a spokesman for the charities said.

Of the NCPC’s 14 staff, five took voluntary redundancy, two were made redundant and the rest have moved to Hospice UK, which has 57 staff.

The NCPC’s board will be wound up and the new charity will operate under Hospice UK’s name, the spokesman said.

The charities’ boards agreed in March to work towards a formal merger, and said Tracey Bleakley, chief executive of Hospice UK, would be acting chief executive of both organisations from 31 May while the merger was finalised.

Bleakley has today been confirmed as chief executive of the merged organisation and Claire Henry, former chief executive of the NCPC, has become director of improvement and transformation at Hospice UK.

Both charities already share a building in London, which will remain the merged charity’s headquarters, the spokesman said.

Hospice UK had an income of £5.9m in the 2016/17 financial year, while the NCPC had an income of £1.4m.

Bleakley said: “We need a bold new approach to caring for adults and children facing life-shortening conditions and confronting the taboo subjects of death and bereavement. This merger will greatly strengthen our ability to do this.

“As we join forces, we are looking at how we can open up good end-of-life care for everyone no matter who you are, where you are or what condition you have.”

Baroness Ilora Finlay, outgoing chair of NCPC and now vice-president of Hospice UK, said: “I’m delighted that our organisations are joining forces to further strengthen the voice for excellent palliative and end-of-life care for all.

“By coming together, we will continue to provide a clear vision and an even stronger voice for end-of-life care everywhere, because the most important person in end-of-life care is the person with the life-limiting condition and their family.”

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IoF gets Arts Council grant to expand its Cultural Sector Network

The £431,832 grant will cover a four-year period to support training, mentoring and peer-to-peer networking

The Institute of Fundraising has been awarded an Arts Council England grant of almost £432,000 to expand the work of its Cultural Sector Network, which supports fundraising in arts and culture organisations.

The funding of £431,832 will be awarded over a four-year period from April and will support a programme of training, mentoring and peer-to peer networking opportunities for arts and cultural fundraisers across England.

In a statement, the IoF said that arts and culture organisations played a vital role in communities and enriching people’s lives, but too many, especially those outside London, faced a daunting funding environment.

“By providing training and ongoing fundraising support, the network will help to ensure these important charities, groups and organisations are able to grow and flourish in the years to come,” the statement said.

The work funded by the grant will focus on linking fundraisers working for organisations based outside London, the statement said, to build up a national network.

The initiative will also help to connect cultural sector fundraisers with the IoF’s eight regional special interest groups and its black fundraisers and sole fundraisers special interest groups.

The IoF will also work in partnership with the Young Arts Fundraisers network on the project.

Martin Kaufman, chair of the IoF Cultural Sector Network, said: “This new funding from the Arts Council will make a huge difference to cultural organisations across England, many of which are struggling to find the funds they need.

“By greatly expanding the IoF’s Cultural Sector Network’s support to build fundraising skills and capacity, it will mean we will be able to support a highly diverse range of cultural organisations to raise the funds they need to continue and to grow their wonderful work across the country.”

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English National Opera readmitted to Arts Council fold

Removed from the ACE national portfolio in 2015 because of concerns about its business model, the ENO will be back in the portfolio from April next year

The English National Opera has been readmitted to the Arts Council England’s national portfolio of funded organisations after a three-year absence.

The move comes as part of an announcement made today by Arts Council England revealing the 831 national portfolio organisations that will receive funding totalling £409m between April 2018 and March 2022.

The ENO was removed from the national portfolio in 2015 because of serious concerns about its governance and business model. The funder also noted that there was uncertainty at the time about the charity’s senior leadership team after its chair and executive director both announced they would be leaving the ENO in February of that year.

The ENO appointed Cressida Pollock as its new chief executive in 2015 and tasked her with making changes to the charity that would enable it to be readmitted to the Arts Council’s national portfolio.

The Arts Council today confirmed that the ENO had been readmitted to the national portfolio and would be given £12.4m a year.

It is the same level of funding the charity had been receiving from the Arts Council as part of a special agreement while it sought re-entry to the national portfolio.

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The annual amount of funding the ENO was receiving from the Arts Council had been reduced by £5m before it was removed from the national portfolio.

Pollock said in a statement today that the charity was delighted to be back in the fold after it faced “a very real risk of closure” three years ago.

“This follows the huge amount of work that has gone into stabilising ENO and developing a sustainable platform from which we are able to grow,” she said.

“Only three years ago we were facing a very real risk of closure, and it is hugely significant to see the work of the whole company celebrated through this show of confidence from ACE.”

The Arts Council said the amount of funding it was providing through the national portfolio was increasing by £41.2m a year on the previous agreement.

The funder said it was for the first time offering funding over four years rather than three to give more stability to recipients.

The Arts Council said it was investing an additional £170m outside London over the next four years.

It added that 72 museums and seven library organisations would be part of the national portfolio for the first time, including the Tank Museum in Dorset.

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