Council Wars
A regular reader has kindly sent me a copy of the incendiary e-mails - that seem to have sparked a civil war in South Lanarkshire Council.
The first is from Councillor Hugh Dunsmuir - Chair of Corporate Resources - who received an anonymous complaint from people claiming to be disgruntled members of staff.
The councillor shares the e-mail with the council's chief executive - Archie Strang - which is how you would expect any responsible councillor to behave.
But Councillor Dunsmuir also copies his e-mail to the chief executive - along with the anonymous complaint - to all and sundry within the council - which was of course a very silly and potentially vindictive thing to do.
Especially as Councillor Dunsmuir says in his e-mail to Archie Strang - "...I would urge you as chief executive to investigate these matters and also let it be known that any member of staff can come to you and it will be treated confidentially."
So, while the councillor is keen to respect confidentiality in some circumstances - he seems quite prepared to share an anonymous complaint - by circulating the details far and wide to all council employees.
Sounds like plain old-fashioned party politicking - if you ask me.
Anyway the chief executive - Archie Strang - responds that same day to say Councillor Dunsmuir or anyone else is perfectly free to raise any issue of concern with him as Head of the Paid Service.
But he goes on to say that it was not appropriate for Councillor Dunsmuir to have copied the e-mail to staff - particularly as the complaint was anonymous and unsubstantiated.
Shortly afterwards all hell broke loose - as the Sunday Post reported last week - and ever since senior councillors and senior officials seem to have been at war with each other.
Let's see what the weekend brings - but if things go on like this - you would expect the Scottish Government to begin asking some serious questions about what's going on.
The first is from Councillor Hugh Dunsmuir - Chair of Corporate Resources - who received an anonymous complaint from people claiming to be disgruntled members of staff.
The councillor shares the e-mail with the council's chief executive - Archie Strang - which is how you would expect any responsible councillor to behave.
But Councillor Dunsmuir also copies his e-mail to the chief executive - along with the anonymous complaint - to all and sundry within the council - which was of course a very silly and potentially vindictive thing to do.
Especially as Councillor Dunsmuir says in his e-mail to Archie Strang - "...I would urge you as chief executive to investigate these matters and also let it be known that any member of staff can come to you and it will be treated confidentially."
So, while the councillor is keen to respect confidentiality in some circumstances - he seems quite prepared to share an anonymous complaint - by circulating the details far and wide to all council employees.
Sounds like plain old-fashioned party politicking - if you ask me.
Anyway the chief executive - Archie Strang - responds that same day to say Councillor Dunsmuir or anyone else is perfectly free to raise any issue of concern with him as Head of the Paid Service.
But he goes on to say that it was not appropriate for Councillor Dunsmuir to have copied the e-mail to staff - particularly as the complaint was anonymous and unsubstantiated.
Shortly afterwards all hell broke loose - as the Sunday Post reported last week - and ever since senior councillors and senior officials seem to have been at war with each other.
Let's see what the weekend brings - but if things go on like this - you would expect the Scottish Government to begin asking some serious questions about what's going on.
