Council Faces Probe

I know it sounds painful - but South Lanarkshire Council is apparently facing a serious 'probe' according to a local newspaper - the Hamilton Advertiser.

Now almost every day people tell me that South Lanarkshire could do with a good 'probing' - and I'm happy to accept their word on that - but here's what the Hamilton Advertiser has to say.

Spending watchdog asked to probe South Lanarkshire Council

Scotland's spending watchdog has been asked to probe allegations of ‘cronyism’ and ‘jobs for the boys’ within South Lanarkshire council.

An eight-page letter detailing the claims has been submitted to the Auditor General for Scotland, Robert Black, and the chairman and deputy chairman of the Accounts Commission for Scotland.

It purports to come from “a group of senior managers in South Lanarkshire” although the copy seen by the Advertiser is unsigned.

A spokesman for the commission said: “I can confirm that we have received the letter and are currently considering a course of action and will be making that decision (in the near future).”

The writer or writers of the letter say they are “no longer willing to sit back and watch the council degenerate into a second-rate organisation as it has done in the past five years due to the inappropriate behaviour...of the ruling Labour Group”.

The writers say the council is “in desperate need of new blood”.

They are critical of the South Lanarkshire practice of appointing internal candidates to senior management positions – a point also made by the Accounts Commission themselves in their audit of the authority in 2009.

Council bosses have insisted that the appointment of candidates ‘from within’ is a reflection of their strong internal training programme.

However, a confidential personnel file accompanying the letter to Mr Black suggests that one senior official was appointed to a top post even though he performed poorly in the council’s own ‘Leadership Development Programme’.

The letter also questions the appointment to council jobs of relatives and friends of senior councillors.

It adds: “While there are allegedly processes in place which should allow us to report such abuse, it would be impossible to use them for fear of our jobs.”

In an appeal to Mr Black they say:

“We trust that the detail of this letter will convince you that there is a problem which your auditors could easily check out.

We ask that this situation is investigated in order that the abuse is arrested, standards restored and that the reputation of the council is prevented from falling any further.”

A spokesman for the council said they didn’t comment on anonymous allegations.

Council Leader Eddie McAvoy said the record of the Labour Group in South Lanarkshire could be favourably compared with any of Scotland’s other 32 authorities.

Now I am intrigued by the comment from the spokesperson - that South Lanarkshire Council doesn't comment on anonymous allegations.

Because if my memory serves me correctly - this hasn't always been the case in the past. 

I seem to recall a previous high-profile, anonymous complaint - being taken up and investigated with great enthusiasm - by both elected councillors and council officials.

The  fact is that all complaints should be treated seriously and properly investigated - even if the end result is to reject false allegations made against innocent people.

But simply trying to sweep them under the carpet - is a big mistake and no way for a public body to behave - because many scandals have come to light in the past - as a result of anonymous complaints.