Mired in Scandal
The lack of effective scrutiny in Labour-run North Lanarkshire is nothing new and pre-dates the equal pay scandal which has dominated the headlines in recent years.
Here's a link to a story from The Herald newspaper which goes back to 1998 when Cllr James McCabe took over as Labour leader following a multi-million pound loss making scandal in the Council's Direct Labour Organisation (DLO) which forced the previous incumbent (Cllr Harry McGuigan) to stand down.
Cllr McCabe then ruled the roost, virtually unchallenged, for the next 18 long years and was in the political driving seat throughout North Lanarkshire's equal pay debacle which has, so far, cost the Council around £100 million pounds.
Cllr McGuigan is still a member of North Lanarkshire's ruling Labour Group, as far as I know, and although The Herald was predicting big things for him back in 1998, Harry never made it to the Scottish Parliament.
North Lanarkshire Council - 1998
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12346021.A_Devil_apos_s_contract_North_Lanarkshire_embarrassment_continues/
A Devil's contract North Lanarkshire embarrassment continues
Fudge, grudge, and more muddle. Mr Harry McGuigan has done the decent thing and announced his decision to stand down as leader of North Lanarkshire Council. The political buck stops with him for the DLO fiasco which threatens to be so costly for the organisation's many workers and the authority's council tax payers. Yet he remains adamant that his decision does not amount to any acceptance of culpability for the gross DLO overspend. Something went badly wrong in North Lanarkshire. There were official, detailed warnings from within the organisation of a looming financial crisis in the DLO. These warnings went unheeded and Mr McGuigan, the authority's political master, must take some responsibility for administrative chains of command and communication that plainly did not work.
The Scottish Labour Party has finally got its way, but it, too, is a guilty party for the way it sought to organise an undemocratic putsch against Mr McGuigan which had more than a touch of the Pat Lallys about it.
Judging by his comments yesterday, Mr McGuigan will not go quietly. The embarrassment could continue for Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar. But there might be a reward for the man who has reluctantly fallen on the DLO sword. There were mutterings last night about Mr McGuigan still having a contribution to make to the Labour movement. Not in North Lanarkshire, presumably. In the Scottish Parliament, possibly. A Devil's contract, indeed.
North Lanarkshire Council - 2016
‘I am not corrupt’: Former North Lanarkshire Council leader insists he's innocent in probe into multi-million-pound deals
Jim McCabe, ousted in a coup earlier this year, has denied any wrongdoing during his 18-year reign in charge of North Lanarkshire Council.
By David Leask - The Herald
A Scottish Labour veteran has declared “I am not corrupt” after the council he led for nearly two decades launched a probe into multi-million-pound deals signed on his watch.
Jim McCabe, ousted in a coup earlier this year, has denied any wrongdoing during his 18-year reign in charge of North Lanarkshire Council.
However, The Herald can reveal that the 75-year-old is among a number of officials and politicians named in a whistleblowing report that sparked a full-scale investigation into procurement processes at the authority yesterday.
