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Save the Children did not tell Unicef of sexual misconduct claim against chief | Save the Children did not tell Unicef of sexual misconduct claim against chief |
(35 minutes later) | |
Save the Children failed to inform Unicef that its former chief executive had been investigated over alleged sexual misconduct before he moved to the UN agency, the charity’s former chairman has told MPs. | |
Sir Alan Parker said Unicef was not told about the investigation into Justin Forsyth, conducted by an independent law firm, because it was not a “formal disciplinary process”. | Sir Alan Parker said Unicef was not told about the investigation into Justin Forsyth, conducted by an independent law firm, because it was not a “formal disciplinary process”. |
Parker, who stepped down from Save the Children this year after news broke of a sexual abuse scandal in the aid sector, also said he and other directors vetoed a £20,000 bonus awarded to Forsyth while the investigation was under way. | |
Forsyth quit his role as deputy executive director of Unicef in April after allegations emerged of inappropriate behaviour towards female members of staff during his time at Save the Children, where he was chief executive between 2010 and 2016. | |
MPs on the international development committee accused Parker of wasting hundreds of thousands of pounds on lawyers as the charity attempted to address the reports of sexual harassment by senior staff. | |
Nigel Evans asked whether it was right that the charity had spent money on media lawyers who sent legal letters to the BBC and national newspapers. “Do you really think that is money well spent?” he asked. | |
Parker said he did not know how much the letters cost, and added: “I think it was very important that the facts were put on the table.” | |
Forsyth faced three complaints of inappropriate behaviour towards female staff before leaving the charity in 2015. An internal report from the charity that was leaked to the BBC said Parker’s “very close” relationship with Forsyth may have affected how he handled the complaints. | |
At Tuesday’s hearing, Parker rejected a claim by the Conservative MP Pauline Latham that a formal written warning was not sent to Forsyth “because he was a friend of yours”. He said the letter should have been in his file. | |
Parker said the charity spoke with a third-party headhunter about Forsyth but it was Save the Children’s policy “not to mention things if they have not been the subject of formal disciplinary process”. | |
He said: “It wasn’t a lucid formal process. It was a process but it didn’t formally trigger a formal disciplinary process which would have been marked, which would have been kept.” | He said: “It wasn’t a lucid formal process. It was a process but it didn’t formally trigger a formal disciplinary process which would have been marked, which would have been kept.” |
Asked whether it should have been flagged up, he said: “When I look back, there are a number of things we would have done differently. I think we would have done it in a way that would have settled it at each time more appropriately and I think very clearly there were quite specific HR failings in this, which I have to take on board as I was chairman at the time.” | Asked whether it should have been flagged up, he said: “When I look back, there are a number of things we would have done differently. I think we would have done it in a way that would have settled it at each time more appropriately and I think very clearly there were quite specific HR failings in this, which I have to take on board as I was chairman at the time.” |
Parker also revealed that Brendan Cox, the widower of the murdered Labour MP Jo Cox, would have been suspended by the charity if he had not resigned. | Parker also revealed that Brendan Cox, the widower of the murdered Labour MP Jo Cox, would have been suspended by the charity if he had not resigned. |
Cox admitted this year he had made “mistakes” and behaved in a way that had caused some women hurt and offence when he was working at the charity. | |
Parker said: “Of course Mr Cox at the time of his resignation was still fully denying everything, and in his resignation letter was saying very clearly he felt this was unfair, he would not get proper justice. He was very, very robust on this and literally just left. | |
“But from the moment we received the report on Brendan Cox – he was away at the time – we then moved to suspend him. He never returned to the building once during that process.” | “But from the moment we received the report on Brendan Cox – he was away at the time – we then moved to suspend him. He never returned to the building once during that process.” |
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