Derry councillors request report on the use of Non-Disclosure Agreements
Independent Councillor Gary Donnelly has called for a report on the high number of Non-Disclosure Agreements in place for ex-council staff.
NDAs are contracts used to protect confidential information from being shared with unauthorised third parties, and at June’s council meeting Councillor Donnelly proposed a report detailing the number of such NDAs entered into by council, broken down by business/service area and grade.
The motion was in response to a Belfast Telegraph article, which identified the council as having ten ex-employees who have signed NDAs since 2021.
The majority of councils have no NDAs.
Councillor Donnelly said the report would allow members to 'better understand why NDAs are deemed necessary'.
“The report should set out the criteria used to determine the appropriateness of using NDAs, who is responsible for these decisions, and if there are any related costs to Council," the motion stated.
“On receipt of the report, this council should consider whether there should be a role for members in determining whether NDAs are necessary in the public interest before any such agreements are entered into in future.”
Councillor Donnelly said the news article had raised questions from the public around council transparency and 'the adverse impression it gives citizens and ratepayers'.
He noted that council has received 'sustained criticisms' over its lack of transparency, from both the Ombudsman and from the Arloesi Report, and the NDAs will 'only fuel public concerns of secrecy and that this council has something to hide'.
He added: “It is in the public interest that members are fully informed on why NDAs are deemed necessary, what criteria are used in determining when an NDA is appropriate, who decides when an NDA will be appropriate, what costs, if any, are associated, and whether elected members should be consulted on decisions to enter into NDAs, given that these are often viewed by the public as a way of gagging current and past employees from speaking out against wrongdoing.”
Sinn Féin’s Christopher Jackson said members were 'all alarmed' by the article’s findings, while SDLP councillor and ex-solicitor, Sean Mooney, said, in his experience, NDAs were used for commercial agreements or to protect intellectual property.
He supported the motion but said his party would reserve their position until presented with the report.
"I’ve never come across any NDAs when it came to matters of public interest,” he said. “NDAs are used in this jurisdiction, on a legitimate basis, protecting intellectual property rights and different other things.”
“We will support the motion today, but we await the paper to see what the detail and the information is in the paper, and then we can make a considered opinion.”
People Before Profit’s Shaun Harkin said the use of NDAs 'warrants discussion'.
He concluded: “I think we need to understand why this is happening.”
“Many organisations, statutory bodies, and government bodies are actually being discouraged from using NDAs, there are many reasons for that, and Councillor Donnelly highlighted some of them.
“So I think that this is a practice that we need to be upfront and clear, about so that there isn't concern and there isn't suspicion.
“I have no judgment on the council yet, until we see the report, because there could be very valid reasons or there could be a broader explanation as to why we're using these.”