Bercow in spotlight over gag clauses
Non-disclosure payments to deter whistleblowing have exceeded £2.4million on the Speaker’s watch
JOHN BERCOW has been accused of presiding over a system that has seen millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money used to silence House of Commons employees during his tenure as Speaker.
The Commons routinely used nondisclosure and confidentiality agreements totalling more than £2.4million to prevent “whistleblowing” after members of staff left.
Figures obtained through freedom of information requests show that socalled “hush money” has been paid to 53 former members of staff since 2013, an average of £45,000 per person.
In 2013 alone, 11 agreements were signed totalling £916,000, with every settlement containing confidentiality clauses. The Daily Telegraph has spoken to a former employee paid just under £100,000 who claimed that departing senior officials were routinely asked to sign confidentiality clauses.
The source added they knew of a number of former colleagues who had received generous settlements.
Mr Bercow chairs the House of Commons Commission, a statutory body responsible for setting overall strategy, although day to day operations are delegated to the House Executive Board.
The Commission is not directly involved in resolving employment disputes. Last night a spokesman for the House Commons said that Mr Bercow had no direct involvement, and settlement agreements, when they totalled £50,000 or more, were instead authorised by Sir David Natzler, the Clerk of the Commons and Mr Bercow’s adviser.
“The Speaker has never signed any such agreement. He’s had no involvement in the negotiation of such an agreement – in fact it would be wholly improper for him to be involved,” the spokesman said.
“Like many other organisations, the House of Commons uses settlement agreements to resolve employment disputes in certain circumstances.”
The revelations come two months after Angus Sinclair, the Speaker’s former secretary, broke the terms of an £86,000 settlement to allege that he had been bullied by Mr Bercow. Last night the Speaker’s Office and the Commons refused to comment on claims that a number of Mr Bercow’s former staff were included in the figures.
Separately, David Leakey, the former Black Rod, has made similar allegations, while friends and colleagues of Kate Emms, Mr Sinclair’s successor, claimed she had been signed off work with PTSD and later moved from Mr
‘Personally, I would say that in the past the House of Commons has been too free in its use of gagging clauses’
Bercow’s office. Neither is believed to have signed a non-disclosure agreement, while Mr Bercow strenuously denies the allegations made against him. Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Maria Miller MP, currently investigating the use of non-disclosure agreements, said the amount of money involved was “enormous”, adding that Mr Bercow was ultimately responsible and should be held to account.
“Personally, I would say that in the past the House of Commons has been too free in its use of gagging clauses,” she said. “I am deeply concerned to hear about the amount of public money that has been used in settlement agreements… It really begs the question as to why as an organisation we are running into so many problems with so many employees which require that level of agreement to be reached. There needs to be more transparency.”
Her comments were echoed by Andrea Leadsom, Leader of the House of Commons, who said the disclosures highlighted “the importance of changing the culture in Westminster”.
“It’s essential that anyone in Parliament who feels they have not been treated with dignity and respect should be able to achieve closure,” she added.