Government minister Patricia Hewitt has been forced to make the embarrassing admission that she sexually discriminated against a leading member of Bath and North East Somerset Council. Tory councillor Malcolm Hanney was deemed to be "much the strongest candidate" by the independent interview panel for a top development agency post - but Miss Hewitt over-ruled the panel and appointed a woman instead.
The Health Secretary, who at the time of the incident was Trade and Industry Secretary, has now been found by a court to have discriminated against Cllr Hanney in October by denying him the £9,000-a-year post on the board of the South West Regional Development Agency.
Instead of the job going to Cllr Hanney - a former Hong Kong-based banker - Miss Hewitt gave it to Christine Cannon, a 60-year-old Devon county councillor who was only the panel's third choice.
Cllr Hanney, who is the council's executive member for finance and resources, used laws under the Freedom of Information Act to access the interviewers' notes. Among the panel's comments were "Malcolm Hanney was much the strongest candidate at interview" and "Agree to appoint Malcolm Hanney to the Local Authority position".
Upon unearthing the comments, he complained to the Commissioner for Public Appointments. After an investigation the commissioner upheld Cllr Hanney's complaint.
Soon after officials at the Department for Trade and Industry told Cllr Hanney the department was prepared to give an apology for the incident - but insisted it was not appropriate for the minister to apologise.
The former HSBC director pressed on with his complaint and lodged an employment tribunal against the Secretary of State, which was decided in the High Court at the end of month.
The court ruled Cllr Hanney had been sexually discriminated against, which in turn prompted a personal apology from current Trade and Industry Secretary Alan Johnson. The department has now agreed to pay Cllr Hanney's £18,000 legal costs in bringing the case.
BY MATTHEW PARDO AT THIS IS BATH
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