EDUCATION’S unfair dismissal of the former head of Le Rondin School could end up costing the taxpayer more than £600,000. An employment tribunal ruled in April that the department’s sacking of Jane Stephens in January 2006 had been contrary to natural justice.

The Education Department, and the Crown Officers who defended it, have refused to reveal the true cost of the debacle or how much time they spent on it.

Deputy Dave Jones said it was scandalous.

‘If you take into consideration the Education staff’s time, including staff who were observing the tribunal when they should have been working at their desks, I dread to think what the overall cost would be,’ he said.

‘Secondly, the shabby way in which Mrs Stephens was treated in this matter is likely to cost the taxpayer several tens of thousands of pounds above what the tribunal awarded her.

‘This is a veteran teacher whose life was destroyed by members of the Education Department. As far as I am concerned she has been exonerated and the result is that the Education Department has ended up with a very expensive PR disaster.’

Prior to her dismissal, Mrs Stephens’ advisers had requested a severance package of more than £500,000. This allowed for the fact that she would have been effectively retired four years early and the negative impact that would have on her pension entitlement.

The tribunal awarded Mrs Stephens the maximum it could – six months’ salary, £27,470 – and the shortfall could open the doors for a compensation claim against the department.

Mrs Stephens declined to say whether she would pursue such a claim.

The Employment Tribunal sat on 17 days and its judgement concluded that the continuing failure of senior management and the Education board to adopt rules of natural justice had made it impossible for the department to defend the case.

The Commerce and Employment Department, which manages the tribunal process, said its costs had been £20,194.

This included employing the three tribunal panel members, renting hotel space for the hearing and C&E staff time associated with the administration process.

Crown Advocate Richard McMahon represented Education throughout the hearing.

HM Procureur Nik van Leuven would not say how much time or money had been spent on the case from the Law Officers’ perspective.

Even if it had been practicable to produce a meaningful estimate of costs, he did not consider it appropriate to release that information.

A legal expert said that for every hour spent in a public hearing there would be at least another in preparation. Funding the office of the Law Officers cost the taxpayer £2.43m. in 2006.

At the January meeting of Sark’s Chief Pleas, it was revealed that the Law Officers intended to charge the island £195 per hour for handling its litigation matters.

At that rate, seven hours per day for 17 days – doubled to allow for preparatory work – comes to more than £46,000.