THE full detail of a £1 million wages anomaly at South Lakeland District Council may never be made public, it emerged this week.

Acting chief executive of the authority Mike Jones has said some restrictions may prevent all the issues being discussed in public.

It follows a letter to Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Collins from Mr Jones after the MP asked for an explanation about the suspension of three unnamed senior officers.

In a written reply, Mr Jones told the MP: "At this stage there is nothing to report except that the council is following nationally agreed procedures and, until they have been completed and the results known, no further comment will be made. However, at the appropriate time a full report will be made to the council and the relevant details made public."

This week, Mr Jones expanded on the letter and said that when the council reported the outcome of the investigation it would be as "open as possible."

SLDC spokeswoman Sheila Meades, on behalf of Mr Jones, said: "Our approach will be to make all details public unless there is a very good reason not to - for example there may be certain personal and legal matters that we will not be able to reveal."

Mr Collins told the Gazette: "I am not surprised at the response, although I am disappointed. It's essential the officers of the council should realise that their primary duty is to the public who pay them, not to each other.

"As soon as the council's investigation has been completed, I very much hope that the results will be published in full, without delay and this is something I will urge on those in charge of the process."

Sldc has refused to confirm if the three officers are Chief Executive Philip Cunliffe, finance director Jack Jones, and human resources manager Andrew Taylor.

Neither Jack Jones, Mr Cunliffe nor Mr Taylor have been at any public council meetings.

In fact, during the discussion of a financial issue at a meeting this week, acting chief executive Mike Jones told councillors: "If Jack (Jones) was here, he would tell you himself"

The authority has previously confirmed there have been "discrepancies with the implementation of the pay and grading structure," but has not expanded on the cause of the anomaly while an investigation continues.

In his letter to the MP, Mr Mike Jones said the council was "very conscious of its duty to keep the public informed of all relevant events," and added that it was equally aware of its "duty of care to our employees and the requirement to safeguard the best interests of the council."

He added that the council had taken "legal and human resources advice," about the issue.

Council staff, along with councillors, have been told not to discuss the issue and councillors standing for election next month have been issued with briefing notes on what they "can and cannot" tell members of the public.

Meanwhile, the General Purposes Committee which approved the pay and grading structure for the workforce last September has now agreed to limit its powers of delegation when it comes to deciding staffing matters.

It follows concerns by its members about "the extent of powers the committee should have in relation to changes to the terms and conditions of employees which affected all staff," and "which had substantial and long term implications on the council's budget."

It has now agreed that any proposal costing more than £250,000 and applying to more than 25, would be discussed by the committee and then a recommendation made to the full council for a final decision.

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