Council strikes ‘secret’ settlement with ex-headteacher after internal investigation

Lambeth council has agreed an out-of-court settlement with England’s former best paid primary headteacher, who used to earn £367,000 a year.

Schools Week, which broke the story on January 19, reported that a council spokesman said the details of the settlement “are confidential to both parties”. 

In 2018 Sir Craig Tunstall was dismissed as the ‘superhead’ of Gipsy Hill Federation for “gross misconduct”. The federation is one of the country’s largest maintained school federations which includes five schools in Lambeth and one in Southwark.

An Internal Audit investigation found evidence that Tunstall received “unauthorised” payments of nearly £300,000 after Gipsy Hill Federstion’s Head of Human Resources used electronic signatures without approval. 

The “substantial” payments allegedly plunged Tunstall’s former federation schools into deficit.

It was also reported that Tunstall sent a text to Lambeth’s Head of Schools’ HR calling her a “vindictive c**t”, which a disciplinary panel concluded was “bullying, abusive and highly unprofessional”. 

In 2020, Tunstall took Lambeth council to the High Court to sue them for more than £200,000, claiming that an “excessive workload”, caused by plans to open a new free school, left him depressed. He believed he had been unfairly dismissed.

Lambeth council then launched a counterclaim to seek “financial recompense”. The council said it suffered losses and damages of £528,980, including £269,758 in salary and £12,027 in pension paid to Tunstall. 

A judge was due to hold a trial on the case later this year, but a court order this month confirmed the case had been settled.

The court case comes as part of a broader row between the council and Gipsy Hill Federation which saw the federation’s governors step down last week. 

According to Lambeth council the total deficit for the federation was more than £1.8million in April 2023, and the Federation forecast it to rise to £2.44million by March 31.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Matthew Bryant said: “The settlement leaves too many questions unanswered and Lambeth Council taxpayers may never know how much this has cost them. 

“It is taxpayers’ money which is being tossed between Lambeth and Tunstall, and they deserve to know what has been paid out, and to whom.”

A spokesperson from Lambeth Council said: “We can confirm that case has been settled.

“The details of that settlement, which resolves both Mr Tunstall’s and the council’s claims, are confidential to both parties.”

Pictured top: Lambeth town hall in Brixton (Picture: Robert Firth)