Trevor Phillips under pressure after equality watchdog audit

Resignations and Audit Office's refusal to sign off accounts heap pressure on Trevor Phillips

Trevor Phillips, the chairman of the government's flagship equality watchdog, faces an uncertain future after a series of top-level resignations and the revelation last night that the National Audit Office refused to sign off the organisation's accounts because of alleged irregularities.

Two commissioners and Phillips's director of strategy have quit in the past week. A third commissioner, Bert Massie, said yesterday that he was considering his position. Several members of the Equality and Human Rights Commission are said to be questioning Phillips's management style and political direction, amid predictions of more departures if he is reappointed for a further term in September.

Nicola Brewer, the former chief executive, who was the first to walk out of the EHRC, is said to have repeatedly challenged Phillips over financial issues in her role as chief accounting officer. Insiders said that while the problems were largely technical, as a former Foreign Office diplomat Brewer had a very different approach to the handling of public money.

It is understood that some of the problems identified by the NAO relate to the former Commission for Racial Equality, which Phillips chaired before it was rolled into the single equality watchdog, including the transfer of some staff to the new body and the disappearance of about £30,000-worth of laptops when the organisation was wound down.

Asked whether further resignations were likely, one senior EHRC source said: "If Trevor goes on behaving as he currently is, that is the risk. The reality is that 10 of the commissioners come up for reappointment in November and it would certainly be very embarrassing for him [if they did not reapply]. There may be an issue of a number of people who are up for renewal saying, 'if Trevor's going to continue as the chair, then no'."

A commission spokesman said the accounts were now with the NAO for final checks and it hoped they would be signed off next month, after several months of negotiation. The process had been "difficult", he added, but said that that was because they involved three predecessor bodies and the period of transition to a sole watchdog.

Brewer publicly raised problems with the accounts at a board meeting last December and became embroiled in an internal dispute over Phillips being paid for freelance consultancy work on diversity issues, which he was subsequently made to give up.

Kay Hampton, the second commissioner to resign, is also said to have had repeated clashes with Phillips. Union officials are handling a number of grievance claims involving more junior staff alleging bullying, discrimination and other employment issues.

Massie said yesterday that there was a "general unease about the direction" of the body, including whether it gave value for money. His decision to go public will increase the pressure on Harriet Harman, the Equalities minister, to intervene in the running of the commission.

Phillips's approach to equality issues, including recently questioning the concepts of institutional racism and of multiculturalism, and arguing for a greater focus on fairness than on discrimination, have made him a controversial figure for some veterans in the field.

But he is still highly rated by many senior government figures and is particularly close to Lord Mandelson, the business secretary. Friends of Phillips see the turmoil as an attempt by some traditionalists to capitalise on Brewer's departure by changing direction.

One senior official said the conflict on the commission partly reflected "what's going on in government between Mandelson and Harriet Harman, in the equality bill" and that staff had been drawn into the political conflict by proxy.

Sue Bond, National Vice President of the PCS union, which represents commission staff, said many were angry and frustrated: "There is frustration because they feel that the commission is not making best use of its staff and its resources to become a strong and authoritative body that really punches its weight."  continues here

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