Scottish Affairs
Here's an interesting article from the Times newspaper which tells the tale of a former union leader, Alan Ritchie, who had to stand down from his role as UCATT general secretary - only to resurface as a 'special adviser' to the House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee which is chaired by the Glasgow MP, Ian Davidson.
Now two things jumped out to me about this report.
The first being that in an age of mobile telephony how can an MP not be available for comment just because he's travelling between Glasgow and London?
The second is that it seems more than a little strange that the Scottish Affairs Committee has refused to explain what its special adviser is paid - in fact I would go further, I'd like to know the way in which he was recruited.
Alan Ritchie is now facing legal action Andy Barr/NGN
By Michael Glackin
A former trade union chief, who is now a paid adviser to the House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee, is facing legal action after being accused of falsely claiming up to £100,000 in expenses.
Glasgow-based Alan Ritchie, the former general-secretary of construction union UCATT, is being taken to court by the union following an internal investigation. A claim has been filed by the union lawyers and is in the court listings awaiting a hearing date, likely to be early next year.
Mr Ritchie is a paid adviser to the Scottish Affairs Committee, whose chairman, Ian Davidson, is MP for Glasgow South West.
UCATT is understood to have written to Mr Davidson informing him of concerns raised about Mr Ritchie’s expenses claims after his appointment as an adviser for the committee’s examination of blacklisting in the construction sector. He was appointed in May of last year.
A clerk for the select committee confirmed that Mr Ritchie was a “special adviser” but would not disclose how much he was being paid.
Mr Ritchie said last night that he is contesting the case and denied any wrongdoing. “My lawyers are talking to the union’s lawyers. I’ve done nothing wrong,” he said.
The news comes hard on the heels of the expenses scandal revolving around Paul Flowers, the former Labour councillor and Co-operative Bank chairman, who is on bail after being arrested in connection with a drugs investigation. He resigned as deputy chairman of the Co-op Group in June amid concerns about his expenses. Mr Davidson was travelling between Glasgow and London yesterday and unavailable for comment.
UCATT also declined to comment.
Union sources alleged that Mr Ritchie “misused” his union credit card and also allegedly claimed other expenses to which he was not entitled.
When Mr Ritchie was elected general-secretary of the union he continued to live in Glasgow and commuted weekly to UCATT’s London headquarters, claiming the travel costs and accommodation on his expenses. He is also understood to have claimed for several stays in Europe. Under UCATT rules the general-secretary is supposed to be based in London.
Mr Ritchie said: “I had an agreement with the previous general-secretary that I would have an accommodation allowance of £48 per night during the week when I stayed in London and that the union would pay for my travel to and from Glasgow. The previous general-secretary took out an interest-free loan to buy a house when he moved to London, I didn’t.
“After doing that for seven years, the union suddenly said it was against the rules and they didn’t know I had been claiming for these things. It’s frankly amazing. They’ve also said that other expenses I claimed for, such as office equipment, were not authorised, yet the accountants signed off on all my expenses every year.”
Mr Ritchie said European travel and hotel accommodation expenses that he claimed during his time as general-secretary were “always on union business” in his role within the European Federation of building workers to which UCATT is affiliated. Mr Ritchie resigned from UCATT last year after being barred from standing for re-election amid allegations within the union that he had misused expenses. He announced his resignation minutes before a union hearing into the matter was due to commence.
He had to stand down as general-secretary in 2011 after the Certification Officer, the independent trade union watchdog, declared his 2009 leadership election win “void” following complaints from the losing candidate.
Then he was given a role working out of the union’s Glasgow office but in October 2011 he was suspended from that job on full pay when UCATT began its investigation of his expenses.
Mr Ritchie was paid a salary of about £75,000.
A union source said staff and officials at the union failed to confront Mr Ritchie about his expenses because they were “reluctant” to challenge him.
They said Mr Ritchie had initiated a number of internal investigations and hearings into union officials who had disagreed with him.
A former trade union chief, who is now a paid adviser to the House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee, is facing legal action after being accused of falsely claiming up to £100,000 in expenses.
Glasgow-based Alan Ritchie, the former general-secretary of construction union UCATT, is being taken to court by the union following an internal investigation. A claim has been filed by the union lawyers and is in the court listings awaiting a hearing date, likely to be early next year.
Mr Ritchie is a paid adviser to the Scottish Affairs Committee, whose chairman, Ian Davidson, is MP for Glasgow South West.
UCATT is understood to have written to Mr Davidson informing him of concerns raised about Mr Ritchie’s expenses claims after his appointment as an adviser for the committee’s examination of blacklisting in the construction sector. He was appointed in May of last year.
A clerk for the select committee confirmed that Mr Ritchie was a “special adviser” but would not disclose how much he was being paid.
Mr Ritchie said last night that he is contesting the case and denied any wrongdoing. “My lawyers are talking to the union’s lawyers. I’ve done nothing wrong,” he said.
The news comes hard on the heels of the expenses scandal revolving around Paul Flowers, the former Labour councillor and Co-operative Bank chairman, who is on bail after being arrested in connection with a drugs investigation. He resigned as deputy chairman of the Co-op Group in June amid concerns about his expenses. Mr Davidson was travelling between Glasgow and London yesterday and unavailable for comment.
UCATT also declined to comment.
Union sources alleged that Mr Ritchie “misused” his union credit card and also allegedly claimed other expenses to which he was not entitled.
When Mr Ritchie was elected general-secretary of the union he continued to live in Glasgow and commuted weekly to UCATT’s London headquarters, claiming the travel costs and accommodation on his expenses. He is also understood to have claimed for several stays in Europe. Under UCATT rules the general-secretary is supposed to be based in London.
Mr Ritchie said: “I had an agreement with the previous general-secretary that I would have an accommodation allowance of £48 per night during the week when I stayed in London and that the union would pay for my travel to and from Glasgow. The previous general-secretary took out an interest-free loan to buy a house when he moved to London, I didn’t.
“After doing that for seven years, the union suddenly said it was against the rules and they didn’t know I had been claiming for these things. It’s frankly amazing. They’ve also said that other expenses I claimed for, such as office equipment, were not authorised, yet the accountants signed off on all my expenses every year.”
Mr Ritchie said European travel and hotel accommodation expenses that he claimed during his time as general-secretary were “always on union business” in his role within the European Federation of building workers to which UCATT is affiliated. Mr Ritchie resigned from UCATT last year after being barred from standing for re-election amid allegations within the union that he had misused expenses. He announced his resignation minutes before a union hearing into the matter was due to commence.
He had to stand down as general-secretary in 2011 after the Certification Officer, the independent trade union watchdog, declared his 2009 leadership election win “void” following complaints from the losing candidate.
Then he was given a role working out of the union’s Glasgow office but in October 2011 he was suspended from that job on full pay when UCATT began its investigation of his expenses.
Mr Ritchie was paid a salary of about £75,000.
A union source said staff and officials at the union failed to confront Mr Ritchie about his expenses because they were “reluctant” to challenge him.
They said Mr Ritchie had initiated a number of internal investigations and hearings into union officials who had disagreed with him.
