North Lanarkshire Update
Here's a great story from The Herald which reports on a decision by North Lanarkshire Council to disband a housing group because of concerns over transparency and lack of critical oversight.
According the to piece, by David Leask, alarm bells were rung when a group of politicians met with an external adviser with no officials present - a highly irregular state of affairs, so it's no surprise that concerns were raised about the process being followed.
But apply this same test to the Council's late-running job evaluation review exercise which has been ongoing for months without any oversight from elected politicians, while senior officials (who made a mess of things last time round) have provided no feedback to the long-suffering NLC workforce.
If you ask me, what's sauce for the goose should be sauce for the gander.
So if a housing group can be stood down for not having effective oversight in place, then the same should hold true for job evaluation which has been a running sore in North Lanarkshire for years.
What say you, Councillor Logue?
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14513750.North_Lanarkshire_Council_axes_housing_group_amid_concerns_over_transparency/
North Lanarkshire Council axes housing group amid concerns over transparency
By David Leask - The Herald
A GROUP of councillors looking at plans to build 1,000 homes has been disbanded amid concerns over fairness and transparency.
North Lanarkshire Council – which has been under new leadership since the spring – shut down its own cross-party working group of six local politicians after learning it had been given a briefing from a single private developer.
Senior insiders said the briefing – a presentation on how to fund the potentially £140 million scheme - was “extremely unusual” as no housing officials were present.
The move to shut down the group comes after the council’s new leader Jim Logue ordered an internal investigation in to sweeping but as yet unsubstantiated allegations of corruption among officials and councillors.
Read more: North Lanarkshire Council probes corruption allegations
Papers show that the working group, chaired by Councillor Gary O’Rorke, was addressed by Peter Martin of a company called Iskra Development on September 2, 2015. The only official present was a minute-taker.
Mr Logue’s deputy, Paul Kelly, explained the decision to disband the group after learning of the meeting.
He said: “I have never been comfortable with the idea that private businesses could effectively make a pitch to a small number of members and I’m determined we will be transparent in all areas.
“That’s why the new leadership team immediately stopped this group and created a formal member/officer working group, which has input from senior officers and which will report to the Housing and Social Work Committee before any decisions are made.”
The meeting is now subject to an investigation by the council’s own scrutiny panel, which will be producing a report shortly. Mr Kelly said he was “pleased” the panel was looking at the issue.
Read more: Police investigate yet more corruption allegations at North Lanarkshire Council
The businessman who addressed the group said he had seen nothing out of the ordinary in his presentation.
Mr Martin, a former and current social housing executive, said: “I was working as a consultant and I was asked to offer an opinion about whether it was feasible for the council to build 1,000 homes.
“I certainly was not pitching for anything and it was made clear to me that any work that resulted from the scheme would go through normal tendering processes.”
Mr Martin and his partner own half of Iskra Development, which is registered at his home. The other half is owned by security industry entrepreneur called Tony Kane and his family. Mr Kane’s former firm Scotshield has won £18m worth of contracts from North Lanarkshire Council. His relationship to Mr Logue’s predecessor as council leader, Jim McCabe, is subject to the current council investigation.
Mr McCabe has confirmed that he is a friend of Mr Kane and that his daughter works for Scotshield. But he has denied any wrongdoing, saying: “I know Tony Kane. He is a friend of mine. At no time did I approach him to get my daughter a job. And that had nothing to do with Tony Kane getting work at North Lanarkshire or anywhere else. He got it through proper channels.”
Mr Martin, meanwhile, said he was confident that Mr McCabe and Mr Kane would be vindicated in the current investigation. Iskra Devopment, an embryonic business, was not looking to build homes, he added.
An official spokesman for North Lanarkshire Council said: “Iskra Development do not have, and have never had, a commercial relationship with North Lanarkshire Council. Neither is the company involved in any tender exercise. A meeting took place between a cross-party group of councillors and a representative of Iskra, which was minuted by a member of council staff.
“Any suggestions made by Iskra Developments have not been taken forward.”
A GROUP of councillors looking at plans to build 1,000 homes has been disbanded amid concerns over fairness and transparency.
North Lanarkshire Council – which has been under new leadership since the spring – shut down its own cross-party working group of six local politicians after learning it had been given a briefing from a single private developer.
Senior insiders said the briefing – a presentation on how to fund the potentially £140 million scheme - was “extremely unusual” as no housing officials were present.
The move to shut down the group comes after the council’s new leader Jim Logue ordered an internal investigation in to sweeping but as yet unsubstantiated allegations of corruption among officials and councillors.
Read more: North Lanarkshire Council probes corruption allegations
Papers show that the working group, chaired by Councillor Gary O’Rorke, was addressed by Peter Martin of a company called Iskra Development on September 2, 2015. The only official present was a minute-taker.
Mr Logue’s deputy, Paul Kelly, explained the decision to disband the group after learning of the meeting.
He said: “I have never been comfortable with the idea that private businesses could effectively make a pitch to a small number of members and I’m determined we will be transparent in all areas.
“That’s why the new leadership team immediately stopped this group and created a formal member/officer working group, which has input from senior officers and which will report to the Housing and Social Work Committee before any decisions are made.”
The meeting is now subject to an investigation by the council’s own scrutiny panel, which will be producing a report shortly. Mr Kelly said he was “pleased” the panel was looking at the issue.
Read more: Police investigate yet more corruption allegations at North Lanarkshire Council
The businessman who addressed the group said he had seen nothing out of the ordinary in his presentation.
Mr Martin, a former and current social housing executive, said: “I was working as a consultant and I was asked to offer an opinion about whether it was feasible for the council to build 1,000 homes.
“I certainly was not pitching for anything and it was made clear to me that any work that resulted from the scheme would go through normal tendering processes.”
Mr Martin and his partner own half of Iskra Development, which is registered at his home. The other half is owned by security industry entrepreneur called Tony Kane and his family. Mr Kane’s former firm Scotshield has won £18m worth of contracts from North Lanarkshire Council. His relationship to Mr Logue’s predecessor as council leader, Jim McCabe, is subject to the current council investigation.
Mr McCabe has confirmed that he is a friend of Mr Kane and that his daughter works for Scotshield. But he has denied any wrongdoing, saying: “I know Tony Kane. He is a friend of mine. At no time did I approach him to get my daughter a job. And that had nothing to do with Tony Kane getting work at North Lanarkshire or anywhere else. He got it through proper channels.”
Mr Martin, meanwhile, said he was confident that Mr McCabe and Mr Kane would be vindicated in the current investigation. Iskra Devopment, an embryonic business, was not looking to build homes, he added.
An official spokesman for North Lanarkshire Council said: “Iskra Development do not have, and have never had, a commercial relationship with North Lanarkshire Council. Neither is the company involved in any tender exercise. A meeting took place between a cross-party group of councillors and a representative of Iskra, which was minuted by a member of council staff.
“Any suggestions made by Iskra Developments have not been taken forward.”
