Here is the Contract between Barnet Council and Halliford Associates Ltd and Mr Andrew Travers for you to read. Mr Travers is the Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Finance Officer.
Please comment below. Mr Mustard will later but has a feeling that comments will come thick and fast and that Councillors will have some questions to answer about why have let the Chief Executive employ an "employee" on a Consultancy basis, not paying PAYE, on a £1,000 a day. Has the time come to rein in the power of Officers and get Councillors who, unlike Officers, are democratically accountable to Council Taxpayers, to keep a closer eye on the spending ?
Consultancy Agreement
Between
London Borough of Barnet
-and-
Andrew Travers
Halliford Associates Limited
12 April 2010
Strictly Private and Confidential
This AGREEMENT is made on the 12th day of April 2010 BETWEEN:
Halliford Associates Limited, [section 40(2) FOIA]; Andrew Travers (“the Consultant”)
and
Nick Walkley, Chief Executive of London Borough of Barnet at Building 4, North London Business Park, Oakleigh Road South, London N11 1NP (“the Local Authority”)
WHEREAS
The London Borough of Barnet requires an interim Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Finance Officer (S151) and has identified the Consultant as a professional with the requisite qualifications, experience and expertise to perform that function.
The Parties make this Agreement to record the terms and conditions of the Consultant’s appointment as the interim Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Finance Officer with the Local Authority.
It is agreed as follows:
1. Nature and Term of the Contract
1.1 This Agreement shall commence on 12 April 2010 in accordance with the letter of appointment forwarded to the Consultant on 30 March 2010 and shall continue unless and until terminated by either party giving such written notice as set out in clause 9.1 below to the other party.
2. Responsibilities and Duties of the Contractor
2.1. The Consultant is engaged to provide Interim Management as Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Finance Officer. The Consultant shall perform the duties outlined in the job description attached and exercise the powers which the Chief Executive may from time to time properly assign to him in his capacity as Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Finance Officer. For the avoidance of doubt, the Consultant shall exercise all powers usually assigned to persons employed as Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Finance Officer and in their capacity as an Officer of the Local Authority.
2.2. The Consultant shall carry out the services and perform his duties with reasonable care and skill to be expected of a professional with his experience and expertise. The Consultant shall at all times and in all respects conform to and comply with the proper and reasonable directions and regulations of the Local Authority.
3. Responsibilities and Duties of the London Borough of Barnet
3.1 The Local Authority shall provide for the Consultant a suitably equipped work space at Building 4, North London Business Park, Oakleigh Road South, London N11 1NP or at such reasonable location as the Local Authority may specify from time to time.
4. Hours of Work
4.1 The Consultant shall be available for work for the Local Authority for an average of 40 hours per week over five days and shall work any additional hours that are reasonably necessary for the full and proper performance of his duties under this Agreement. The Consultant shall be required when available to respond to any out of hours telephone queries received by him in connection with his duties at the Local Authority and shall perform any work arising from such communication at the daily rate.
4.2 Subject to clause 4.1 above the Consultant’s normal working days will be
Monday to Friday
5. Holiday
5.1 The Consultant shall take annual leave as and when they require but shall agree the duration and the timing of such leave with the Chief Executive at least one month prior to the proposed commencement of their annual leave.
6 Personal Service
6.1 This Agreement is personal to the Consultant. The Consultant shall not assign, novate, subcontract or otherwise dispose of this Agreement or any part thereof without the previous consent in writing of the Local Authority. Nothing in this Agreement shall prevent the Consultant from acting in a similar or any other capacity for any other person provided that that person is not carrying on the same or similar business to the business of the Local Authority.
7. Remuneration
7.1 In consideration of the provision of the services , the Local Authority shall pay to the Consultant a daily fee of £1,000 [one thousand pounds] exclusive of VAT payable monthly in arrears (such fee to be paid against the production of a suitable timesheet and invoice addressed to the Local Authority for the services carried out for the preceding month). Invoices supplied to the Local Authority by the Consultant shall be paid within 14 days of the date of receipt of the same.
7.2 All expenses shall be agreed by the Chief Executive in advance. The Local Authority shall reimburse all reasonable travelling, hotel and other expenses wholly and exclusively incurred by them in the performance of their duties under this Agreement.
8. Agency
8.1 For all intents and purposes, the Consultant shall be deemed to be an Officer of the Local Authority and shall have all such power commensurate with their position and as required for the proper performance of their obligations under this Agreement. For the avoidance of doubt the Consultant shall have power to enter into contracts on behalf of the Local Authority and to bind the Local Authority to the performance, variation, release or discharge or any legal obligation with third parties in accordance with her duties and responsibilities. In addition the Consultant shall have dealings with the Members of the Council as that of an Officer and shall be subject to the Constitution of the London Borough of Barnet.
8.2 Abide by the policies and procedures of the Local Authority, with the exception of those that specifically relate to direct employees. All Corporate policies can be found on the Local Authorities Intranet and the onus is on the Consultant to ensure they are familiar with these and have confirmed in writing to their Director.
9. Termination
9.1 This Agreement may be terminated by either party giving one months notice in writing to the other.
9.2 Notwithstanding 9.1 above the Local Authority may terminate the Consultancy immediately upon providing to the Consultant written notice to that effect if the Consultant:
9.2.1 is found to have been guilty of a material breach of the terms and conditions of this Agreement and the Consultant has failed to remedy the material breach within thirty days of written notice from the Local Authority to the Consultant specifying the said breach and requiring its remedy;
9.2.2 neglects or omits to perform any of their duties or obligations under this Agreement and the Consultant fails or refuses to carry out the duties and obligations reasonably required of them;
9.2.3 is unable by reason of their incapacity to perform their duties under this Agreement for a period of 10 working days.
9.2.4 The Consultant is found to be guilty of any fraud, dishonesty or conduct tending to bring themselves and the Local Authority into disrepute. The Consultant shall immediately notify the Local Authority in writing if they becomes subject to an investigation under the Financial Services, Banking and or Companies Acts or is investigated by the Serious Fraud office, the Police the Department for Trade and Industry; or
9.2.5 is found to be guilty of any gross default or misconduct in connection with the business of the Local Authority.
9.3 Upon termination of this Agreement for any reason, the Consultant shall deliver up to the Local Authority all letters, publications, papers, discs, tapes, reports, documents, keys, software, computer peripherals, communications equipment, electronic documents, data files and other items or property which may have been prepared by the Consultant or come into their possession by virtue of this Agreement or which relate to the business of the Local Authority and all copies thereof regardless of the medium on which such copies are recorded or stored.
10. Tax Status
10.1 The Consultant shall have the status of a self employed person and shall not be entitled to receive any pension, bonus, holiday pay, sick pay or other fringe benefits from the Local Authority.
10.2 It shall be the sole responsibility of the Consultant to make full payment of all income tax liabilities and national insurance or other similar contributions or liabilities arising in consequence of the consultancy or otherwise.
10.3 If for any reason the Local Authority pays any income tax, national insurance or similar contributions on the Consultant’s behalf, the Local Authority is entitled to demand and the Consultant shall give a full and immediate indemnity in respect of all such payments made.
11. Confidentiality
11.1 The Consultant is aware that in the course of their assignment they will have access to and be entrusted with information relating to the business, transactions and affairs of the Local Authority and other third parties all of which information is or may be considered confidential. Both parties shall take all necessary steps to ensure that all confidential information is treated as confidential and not disclosed or used other than for the purposes of this Agreement.
11.2 The Consultant shall not, save in the proper course of their duties, during or at any time following the period of their engagement under this Agreement, disclose to any third party or otherwise make use of any confidential information of the Local Authority without the prior written consent of the Local Authority.
11.4 All notes, memoranda, other documents and confidential information regarding the business of the Local Authority acquired, received or made by the Consultant during the course of their assignment shall be the property of the Local Authority and shall be surrendered by the Consultant to the Local Authority at the termination of their assignment or at the request of the Local Authority at any time during the course of their assignment.
12. Intellectual Property
12.1 Subject to the provisions of the Patents Act 1977 and the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, if at any time during her engagement under this Agreement, and while working for the Local Authority, the Consultant makes or discovers or participates in the making or discovery of Intellectual Property relating to or capable of being used in the business being carried on by the Local Authority, the Consultant shall grant the Local Authority a nontransferable, perpetual license to exploit the intellectual property solely for its own use. At the request and expense of the Local Authority the Consultant shall give and supply all such information, data, drawings and assistance as may be requisite to enable the Local Authority to exploit the Intellectual Property to its best advantage within the terms of the license. The intellectual Property will remain the absolute property of the consultant, to be exploited as they see fit.
13. Professional Indemnity Insurance
13.1 The Consultant shall effect for the duration of the term of this contract, with a reputable insurance company, a policy or policies of such professional indemnity insurances as are necessary to cover liability which may arise under this Agreement in the sum of £500,000 and shall produce the relevant policy or policies or other evidence confirming the extent of the cover given by the policy or policies together with a receipt or other evidence of the payment of the latest premium due thereunder.
13.2 At the end of the Term, the Consultant shall provide evidence to the Council that its professional indemnity insurance shall continue to indemnify the Council for a period of not less than one year after the end of the Term.
14. Gratuities
14.1 The Consultant shall immediately report in writing to the Chief Executive any offer of gifts or services to them by clients, suppliers, distributors and other such persons having a similar connection with the Local Authority. The Consultant shall not accept or agree to accept such offers without the prior written agreement of the Chief Executive. This applies to any gifts or services, commissions, gratuities, rebates or discounts directly or indirectly from any person, firm or company with whom the Local Authority conducts business or may conduct business.
15. Dispute Resolution
15.1 Should any dispute arise in relation to this Agreement, it shall be raised in writing, and the matter discussed at a meeting with Chief Executive. If no resolution can be reached this Agreement will be severed and the notice period stated in clause 9.1 will apply.
16. Audit
16.1 The Consultant shall keep or cause to be kept full and accurate records of all material relating to the charges and expenses in relation to the contract, all invoices submitted to the Local Authority in relation to work completed by him and all services provided to the Local Authority.
16.2 The Consultant shall grant to any authorised representative of the Local Authority the right of reasonable access to any premises of the Consultant which are used in connection with the performance of the Consultant’s obligations under this Agreement together with a right to reasonable access to all records referred to at clause 17.1 above.
16.3 The Consultant shall provide or procure all reasonable assistance at all time during the term of the Contract for the purposes of carrying out an audit of the Consultant’s compliance with this Agreement as well as an audit of all activities, performance and security in connection therewith.
17. Notices
17.1 Notices may be given by either party by letter addressed to the other party at its registered address or in the case of the Consultant, their last known address and any notice given by letter shall be deemed to have been given at the time at which the letter would be delivered in the ordinary course of post or if delivered by hand, upon that delivery.
18. Publicity
18.1 The Consultant shall not make any press announcements or publicise this Contract in any way without the prior written consent of the Local Authority.
19. Severability
19.1 If any provision of this Agreement is held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable for any reason by any court of competent jurisdiction, such provision shall be severed and the remainder of the provisions in this Agreement shall continue in full force and effect as if this Agreement had been executed with the invalid, illegal or unenforceable provision eliminated. In the event of a holding of invalidity so fundamental as to prevent the accomplishment of the purpose of this Agreement, the Local Authority and the Consultant shall immediately commence good faith negotiations to remedy such invalidity.
20. Law and Jurisdiction
20.1 This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England.
Signed on behalf of London Borough of Barnet Name: Nick Walkley
Title: Chief Executive
Date:
Signed on behalf of Halliford Associates Limited Name: Andrew Travers
Title: Director
Date:
Yours frugally
( Barnet Council will have to look up the word frugal I think )
Mr Mustard
Here is an easier link to the blogpost that Jaybird mentions below.
http://s.coop/1jpb
Just seen this, and I am (almost) lost for words.
ReplyDelete£1,000 a day?
How long is an interim post allowed to last, before it might reasonably be expected to be filled on council renumeration rates, thereby saving the taxpayers unneccessary expense?
How many posts are being filled in this way, but private contract at higher than council levels, and for how long?
Why?
I note that Mr Travers is Chief Finance Officer.
I note clause 9.2.2.
I remind readers of the MetPro scandal, and I ask who will be held responsible for what is apparently privately being referred to by one senior Tory councillor as 'one almighty cock-up'?
Mr Mustard, will you be joining Mr Reasonable when the council open their books for the annual audit?
ReplyDeletehttp://reasonablenewbarnet.blogspot.com/2011/05/inspection-of-barnet-council-accounts.html
I haven't checked exactly when Mr R is going to NLBP or what he wants to look at but you can be sure we will confer beforehand and avoid any overlap. My financially aware co-Director is also going to attend. I am up the pub with the neighbours tonight so I might see who else wants a good nose in the books.
ReplyDeleteIs this IR35 friendly? Looks to me like it isn't, no substitution & working under direction
ReplyDelete