Council spent £327,615.92 on staff gagging orders in the last year.

Non-disclosure agreements are legal contracts used to prevent people from discussing confidential information and keep trade secrets private.

They are often used in redundancy packages and generally when staff leave, but are also used to stop people talking about allegations of misconduct.

One of the 19 payments made under NDAs in 2019/20 relates to a member of staff still employed by the council, while the rest relate to staff leaving.

The figures emerged in response to a question from Sydenham resident Julia Webb during the People’s Audit.