Evidence item D726
Letter from Manches (Keble's solicitors) to Diamond Versi, 15th April 2004

Our reference: DZR/DLW/013046/143868

Manches

Manches LLP
3 Worcester Street
Tel + 44 (0)1865 722106
Fax + 44 (0)1865 20 10 12
DX 4322 0xford
www.manches.com

Mr D Versi

Strictly Private and Confidential

By Post and e-mail

15th April 2004

Dear Sir

Keble College

We have been instructed by the College to reply to your letter of 8 April to the Warden. It follows the Warden's letters to you of 31 March and 2 April concerning the arrangements for the termination of your employment by reason of redundancy.

We note your comments about the reasons for the creation of the post of Financial Controller. We understand that the College undertook a thorough review of its accounting function and consulted extensively with you and with other affected individuals before its Finance Committee took the decision to proceed with the restructuring at the end of last month. The College is entitled to take reasonable and proper business decisions about its operations and the decision to create the new post was made after careful consideration on a proper and reasonable basis.

You are entitled to the following payments from the College:

• Statutory redundancy pay of £6,075 (based on 15 full years of service at age 56);
• Pay for the two days of your notice period you served in the sum of £179.95 per day less tax and NIC (totalling £359.90 less tax and NIC);
• Holiday pay representing 5.5 days at £179.95 per day, less tax and NIC;
• A payment in lieu of the balance of your notice period. The College is not obliged to account for tax or NIC in respect of such payment, but you are entitled only to the benefit of the net pay to which you would have been entitled during the notice period, subject, of course, to mitigation of losses. You are also entitled to the net benefit to you of 7.5 days' holiday pay in respect of holiday which would have accrued had you served your full notice period. We calculate the net payment as £9,526.01 (that is, three months' net pay at £2,927.61 per month, less two days' net pay at £135.12 per day, making a total of £8,512.58, plus net holiday pay of £1,013.43). The College is prepared to contribute £1,637.49 to your pension in respect of the notice period, subject of course to you making the appropriate contribution of £694.98 (normal contribution). As requested in your letter to the Warden, the College will deduct this sum together with your AVC payment of £584.82 from the termination payment and forward them to USS on your behalf, together with its contribution of £1,637.49. This means that the total net payment in lieu of notice made to you will be £8,246.21.

The College will arrange for the payments to be made to you and to USS and your P45 to be issued in due course.

In your letter to the Warden, you have questioned the College's calculations of your rate of pay. We are instructed that your rate of pay was £46,785.69 per annum, being the current level for academic-related administrative Grade 5.10, uplifted by 3%. We understand that in January this year you revealed to the Bursar that your pay had, since 1997, been enhanced by an additional 1.35% per annum, although you acknowledged that the Bursar might not have been aware of this anomaly. The details of the arrangement are not recorded and the College understands that the enhancement was no more than a temporary arrangement designed to alleviate hardship when you transferred from the College pension scheme to USS. There is no evidence to suggest that the College had any intention of continuing this arrangement and frankly it is surprising that the continuation of this arrangement was not drawn to the attention of either the current or the former Bursar. The College is not obliged to make a payment in lieu of notice to you based on a rate of pay which appears to be subject to an unauthorised enhancement. We are advising the College as to its rights and obligations in relation to the unauthorised payments.

Finally, we understand that the College has not been able to locate the audit files for 2003 and the current VAT file. Both of these files were normally held in your office. The Bursar raised the question of their whereabouts with you in his letter of 4 March, to which he has received no substantive response. Furthermore, we understand that you have a laptop computer belonging to the College. This was provided by the College as a resource for the Accounts department as a whole.

We remind you that you are obliged to return all items of property belonging to the College to the College as soon as possible. We would be grateful if you would kindly confirm by return whether you hold the files, and if so, that you will make arrangements for their immediate return. You should also make arrangements for the immediate return to the College of the Dell Latitude Cpt333 laptop computer. If you do not hold the files, we would be grateful if you could let us or the College know if you have any ideas as to their whereabouts.

Yours faithfully

Manches LLP