‘Spill the beans on Tunstall deal’, Lambeth town hall is urged

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

Lambeth council has been urged to reveal details of a secret deal reached with England’s once best paid primary head teacher to end a six-year legal dispute over his dismissal.

Former head of the Gipsy Hill Federation, Sir Craig Tunstall, was sacked in 2018 after allegedly calling a council HR boss a ‘vindictive c***’.

Tunstall has reached an out of court settlement with the council over the row about his departure in 2018, the council has confirmed, but it has refused to disclose details of the deal, saying it is ‘confidential’ to both parties.

Local Liberal Democrat councillor Matthew Bryant is calling on the council to release details of the deal done with Tunstall.

He 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.”

Tunstall earned £367,000 per year before his dismissal from the top job at the federation of six South London schools for alleged gross misconduct.

Documents submitted to the High Court in 2020 revealed an internal disciplinary panel found Tunstall had sent a text to Lambeth council’s head of schools’ HR in 2017 calling her a ‘vindictive c***’. The panel said the message was ‘bullying, abusive and highly unprofessional’.

Court papers submitted by Lambeth also alleged Tunstall had received unauthorised extra salary payments of around £288,000 that contributed to the federation having a budget black hole.

Tunstall’s representatives said no allegations of fraud or dishonesty were ever levelled against him and it was not alleged that Tunstall was aware he was being given unapproved payments.

Before the settlement, Tunstall had launched a High Court case against the council and federation for more than £200,000 compensation for alleged psychological injury caused by stress at work and breach of contract. Lambeth council had launched its own claim against Tunstall in an attempt to recover £500,000 in damages.

A Lambeth Council spokesperson said: “We can confirm that [the] 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.”

Sir Craig Tunstall said: “I had excellent legal support on this lengthy fight – at times both legal and emotional support in honesty. Facts and evidence matter, as did perseverance.”

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