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divdiv class=story-body readability=52 span class=story-date#13; span class=date29 October 2013/span#13;span class=time-textLast updated at /spanspan class=time07:56 ET/span#13; #13;/span#13;#13; #13;#13;#13; #13; #13; #13; #13; p class=introduction id=story_continues_1The six-figure payout to the former head of Haringey children's services Sharon Shoesmith stinks, a former government minister has said. /p#13; pConservative MP Tim Loughton said the settlement would leave a really bad taste in taxpayers' mouths./p#13; pIn 2011, Ms Shoesmith, who earned £133,000 a year, won a ruling that she was unfairly sacked after a damning report about the death of Baby Peter./p#13; pBBC Newsnight revealed the payout could cost Haringey Council up to £600,000. /p#13; pPeter Connelly, who was 17 months old, died in 2007 after months of abuse. /p#13; pThe boy had more than 50 injuries, despite being on the at-risk register and receiving 60 visits from social workers, police and health professionals over eight months./p#13; span class=cross-head'Botched job'/span#13; p id=story_continues_2Three people were jailed in 2009, including his mother./p#13; pThe Court of Appeal concluded Ms Shoesmith had been unfairly scapegoated and her removal from office in December 2008 by the then Children's Secretary Ed Balls had been intrinsically unfair and unlawful./p#13; pOne government source told BBC Newsnight that the cost to Haringey Council could be as high as £600,000, although Ms Shoesmith is expected to receive a lower sum. /p#13; pThe exact figure may not emerge as there are confidentiality clauses preventing its disclosure but it will be significantly short of the £1m figure it had been reported she was seeking./p#13; pHowever, it would appear the package is more than the minimum suggested by senior judge Lord Neuberger in a 2011 ruling in the Court of Appeal. He suggested Ms Shoesmith was entitled to a minimum of three months' salary plus pensions contributions. /p#13; pThree months' salary would have been about £33,000./p#13; pMr Loughton, a former children's minister, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the payout became inevitable after the Court of Appeal ruled that Mr Balls had made a complete botched job of her dismissal. /p#13; pBut he added: This is going to leave a really bad taste in taxpayers' mouths that a not insubstantial amount of public money is being used to pay off somebody who presided over a dysfunctional department in Haringey [where] a 17-month-old boy died in horrific circumstances. /p#13; pWe are effectively rewarding failure and when you are appointed a director of children's services... the buck has to stop somewhere and somebody has to take responsibility, and you don't expect that person... to get a large cheque on the back of it as well./p#13; span class=cross-headGove 'furious'/span#13; pA statement from Haringey Council confirmed it had reached a settlement with Ms Shoesmith but that the terms of the settlement were confidential and it was unable to comment further./p#13; pSome of the cash will come from central government, but Haringey council will foot most of the bill, it is understood. An exact figure is yet to be agreed./p#13; #13; pThe Department for Education declined to comment on the story when contacted by the BBC./p#13; pBut one source told Newsnight that Education Secretary Michael Gove was furious about the secrecy over the amount paid to Ms Shoesmith, believing it to be indefensible. /p#13; pLawyers representing Haringey Council and Ms Shoesmith had been in lengthy discussions regarding a settlement since the May 2011 ruling. /p#13; pMs Shoesmith had been due to return to court later this week, seeking a declaration that she remained employed by Haringey Council. /p#13; pThat action has now been dropped and the settlement reached between the two parties is understood to be a final one./p#13; pPeter Connelly's mother, Tracey Connelly, her boyfriend, Steven Barker, and his brother, Jason Owen, were jailed in May 2009 for causing or allowing the child's death./p#13; pEarlier this month a href=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-24446126it was reported that Connelly was due to be released/a from prison on parole. /p#13; /div/divbrbrcentera href=http://www.wizardrss.comPowered By WizardRSS.com/a | a href=http://www.wizardrss.comFull Text RSS Feed/a | a href=http://www.amazon.com/RFID-Blocking-Cards-Identity-Protector/dp/B00CJHZLEWRFID/a | a href=http://www.wpzonbuilder.comAmazon Affiliate/a/center