Cumberland Council to review appeal arrangements for staff dismissal cases
Members of the authority’s staffing committee are due to meet next week
Councillors are set to review the arrangements for considering appeals against dismissal for members of staff at Cumberland Council.
Members of the authority’s staffing committee are due to meet at The Copeland Centre in Whitehaven on Tuesday (March 17) to consider the matter.
The report provides members with an update following changes to the process for appeals against dismissal which were agreed on March 24, 2025.
Members are recommended to note the update regarding appeals against dismissal following the change in procedure and agree to the proposal of a further report to the committee next year to review the number of appeals, outcomes and feedback from both member representatives and trade unions.
According to the report the council’s employment policies provide that employees can appeal against their dismissal in the following circumstances:
- for appeals against dismissal for misconduct;
- for appeals against dismissal for capability, which may be due to poor performance or ill-health – before March 24, 2025, these appeals were heard by sub committees of the staffing committee.
According to the report, under the pre-March 24, 2025, procedure, since the inception of Cumberland Council, there had were five cases heard involving conduct issues, and one was withdrawn the day before the hearing, and one case involving capability or ill-health. Of these the panel overturned one decision and the remainder were upheld.
After the March 24, 2025, procedure, following the changes to the appeal procedure, there was one appeal relating to an absence dismissal.
The report states: “The officer appeal panel overturned the dismissal decision due to a lack of evidence of the impact of the absences when reaching the decision, and the member of staff was reinstated. There have been no appeals related to disciplinary cases.”
According to the report a total of 44 staff members were dismissed between April 1, 2023, and March 31, 2025, and 22 were dismissed between April 1, 2025, and February 28, 2026.
According to the report at a meeting of the staffing committee last March several options were considered and it was agreed to amend the appeal procedure in the disciplinary policy to provide for appeals against dismissals which had previously been heard by the committee to be heard by an officer led panel with a member representative.
It adds: “This option would not be a committee of the council although a member of staffing committee would attend in an advisory capacity. It was agreed that this would be reviewed in 12 months.
“In the staffing committee report it was explained that the trade unions would not be supportive of removing member involvement in appeals, however, they would be more likely to be acceptable of the option which still involved a member of the staffing committee, which was decision chosen by the staffing committee).
“The trade unions have subsequently expressed concerns that they were not engaged correctly prior to the submission of the staffing committee report and indicated that they would submit a formal dispute on this decision, however, they have not done so.
“A clear written commitment has been given to the trade unions that earlier engagement will take place with them for any other such proposed changes to policies and procedures.”