Sexual harassment allegations cost local authorities at least £2.5m | Sexual harassment

Local authorities in England and Wales have spent at least £2.5m in the past five years on costs relating to allegations of sexual harassment, an investigation by the Observer can reveal today.

Data obtained through freedom of information (FoI) laws shows that since 2018, 62 councils spent more than £1,728,900 to cover wage costs of staff who were suspended after allegations of sexual harassment, with accusations ranging from indecent exposure, upskirting, inappropriate comments and sexual assault to stalking and abuse of power.

A further £800,000 was paid out by six councils for sexual harassment claims, including legal fees, claimant costs and damages to victims.

The total will most likely be higher: 103 councils refused to supply data or did not respond to the FoI request.

“It is outrageous that workplace sexual harassment has cost local people upwards of £1.7m in wages for suspended perpetrators in the last five years alone,” said Jemima Olchawski, CEO of the Fawcett Society, in response to our findings. “That doesn’t even begin to account for the cost when women are forced out of the workforce due to harassment. In the midst of economic downturn and a deep cost of living crisis, there is no excuse for not taking action to ensure this kind of money isn’t wasted ever again.”

In the same period, there were at least 320 allegations of sexual harassment against local government staff – 68% were made by colleagues, while 32% were lodged by members of the public. In the UK 40% of women experience workplace sexual harassment, although an estimated 79% of incidents go unreported.

Nearly half (46%) of the 225 councils who responded to the Observer’s FoI request had received reports of sexual harassment.

“We must urgently move from a culture of redress to one of prevention of sexual harassment in workplaces,” Olchawski said. “We have been working closely with Wera Hobhouse [Lib Dem MP for Bath] on the worker protection bill, which when it becomes law will create a duty on employers to prevent workplace sexual harassment from ever occurring in the first place. It can’t come soon enough.”

Some of the allegations make for disturbing reading. Hull city council received 11 reports of sexual harassment in the time period analysed, of which 10 were made by fellow staff members.

They included allegations of a male employee taking an image of a female colleague’s legs and skirt under the table, an act known as upskirting. Another employee at the council was accused of dropping his trousers and “was slapping their arse”. In all 10 cases, the alleged perpetrator was male and the claimant female. Seven of the men faced disciplinary action while three resigned.

The 11th accusation involved a male council employee allegedly making sexually inappropriate calls to a vulnerable client. The council spent £67,809 on wages for staff who were suspended after allegations of sexual misconduct.

This was far from the highest sum spent by a local authority. Wolverhampton city council spent £107,549 on staff suspension costs after staff members lodged eight complaints of sexual harassment. The allegations included sexual harassment via social media, inappropriate language and showing inappropriate videos. Seven staff members were formally disciplined.

A spokesperson for the council told the Observer that it takes complaints of sexual harassment extremely seriously. “When serious allegations of this nature are made, it is council policy to suspend, without prejudice, with normal pay to allow an investigation to take place without delay.”

Wakefield city council received five allegations from staff members and a further three allegations made by members of the public. The three included one accusation of sexual abuse and two of inappropriate messages. Seven staff members were suspended at a cost of £93,896.

“The council takes very seriously all allegations of sexual misconduct, harassment and assault. We have formal processes for investigating complaints,” said Jill Clayton, Wakefield’s service director for HR and organisational development.

The Observer also asked local authorities to provide the total cost of claims closed or settled with damages paid in the last five years in relation to sexual harassment.

The largest payout came from Southwark council, in south London: it spent £394,028 on damages costs. The council did not disclose the number of reports it had received or the nature of the allegations.

High-profile cases of sexual harassment in local government include one against Jack Hopkins, which he strongly denied; he resigned as Lambeth Labour council leader in 2021. In 2018, Devon county council’s standards committee publicly censured Cllr Brian Greenslade after a formal complaint regarding the alleged sexual harassment and abuse of a number of female employees.

Hull and Southwark councils were approached for comment. The total of claims and damages included at least one council which provided a sum based on any negligence claim made on its insurance policy that featured sexual assault or abuse.