“A Council’s decision to pay for its Chief Executive to sue a local blogger for libel was “unlawful”, according to a rare intervention from the Welsh Audit Office, published today.
Carmarthenshire Council has paid more than £26,000 in legal costs since 2012 after indemnifying its Chief Executive, Mark James, in a libel battle with the blogger, Jacqui Thompson.
The auditor’s public interest report reveals that the Council was warned by its own legal counsel that “common sense should warn all but the most litigious authorities from funding defamation proceedings”
Mr Brookes
Thank you for this and the clarification of your letter, and I will take the matter into account when carrying out the audit. I hope you find the Audit Commission leaflet useful as it sets out the current legal framework. Please let me know if you need clarification of any aspect of it.
Regards
Tony Crawley
Director
KPMG LLP (UK)
1 Waterloo Way
Leicester
LE1 6LP
Mobile: 07966 184819
Direct Dial: 0116 256 6067
Internal Dial: 743 6067
Email Tony.Crawley@KPMG.co.uk
