A bid by the Department for Education and Haringey Council to overturn a ruling that former social services chief Sharon Shoesmith was unfairly dismissed following the Baby P tragedy has failed.
The two departments had been attempting to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision that Shoesmith was unfairly sacked after being dismissed on air by then Children’s Secretary Ed Balls.
The Supreme Court had said the way in which she was fired was unfair as she did not have a chance to put her case forward.
Tueday's decision by the Supreme Court means Shoesmith could be entitled to £1 million compensation.
A Department for Education spokesperson said the government were “disappointed” that their bid to appeal had been rejected.
“The government still believes it was right in principle for Sharon Shoesmith to be removed from her post as Director of Children’s Services (DCS).
“We believe that the Supreme Court should have heard this case as we believe there are questions of constitutional importance involved, beyond the specific question about whether Ed Balls should have had a meeting with Shoesmith before she was removed from her post as DCS.”
In a statement Balls said he was “surprised and concerned” to hear the appeal was not heard by the Supreme Court and called for the government to act to resolve the “ambiguity” in the law.
“I fear that the Appeal Court judgment will now make it very difficult for Ministers to act swiftly in the public interest to use their statutory powers when children are at risk, as I did in this case. This judgment creates a serious and worrying constitutional ambiguity which now requires urgent action from the government to resolve.
“My clear responsibility and duty as Secretary of State was to do everything in my power to keep children safe in Haringey and across the country.”
Shoesmith’s role as Haringey social services head and her department was staunchly criticised in an Ofsted report following the death of Baby P when he was just 17 months old.