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31 July 2009 / James Pike , Naomi Greenwood
Issue: 7380 / Categories: Features , Local government , Public
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Prevention is better than cure say James Pike & Naomi Greenwood

Cheltenham Borough Council has lost it £1m claim against its former managing director, Christine Laird, and have confirmed they will not appeal the decision (see Cheltenham Borough Council v Christine Laird [2009] EWHC 1253 (QB), [2009] All ER (D) 188 (Jun)). This news brings to an end a long-running saga that has come at considerable cost. For tax payers in Cheltenham this equates to approximately £750,000 in legal costs (both the council’s and a proportion of Mrs Laird’s).

In the aftermath of the High Court’s judgment we explore how this situation arose and what steps the council could have taken to prevent it.

Mrs Laird was appointed as managing director of this Conservative-controlled council in 2002. However, within four months the Liberal Democrats had taken over and the relationship between Mrs Laird and the new leader, Andrew McKinlay, became increasingly strained.

The fallout was very public and Mrs Laird issued a claim alleging harassment and seeking an injunction preventing Cllr

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