News / Cluness calls for public hearing
SHETLAND Islands Council convener Sandy Cluness has called for a public hearing into the departure of its controversial former chief executive, after a damning report was published by Audit Scotland on Thursday.
Lerwick councillor Jonathan Wills has meanwhile called for the resignation of Mr Cluness, saying he must take responsibility for a catalogue of errors over the past year.
The report, published on Thursday morning, reveals that the council lost at least £306,000 when it paid off David Clark last February after just nine months in post.
In February Mr Clark received a £250,000 tax free lump sum plus three months pay to leave the council immediately. The council also paid both sides legal costs up to £21,000, totalling £306,000. It is understood tax will have to be paid on top of that.
The size of the pay off caused uproar in the islands’ community and widespread calls for councillors to stand down.
Convener Cluness said he wanted the Shetland public to be told why the council agreed the settlement, and said the only way that could happen would be through a public hearing in Lerwick.
“The public wants to know why we paid this sum over, but unfortunately part of the agreement is that both sides are prevented from making any statement about its details, but I would really like to get that out into the open,” he said.
“The way forward is to tell the Shetland community exactly why the council took the decision it did, and once that is out of the way we can get back to running services.”
The local authority watchdog was called in to investigate the SIC last December after the Accounts Commission raised concerns about a breakdown of relations between councillors and Mr Clark.
No individual is singled out for criticism, but all 22 councillors are accused of failing to act in the interest of the authority as a whole.
Audit Scotland is unhappy with the way the council recruited the chief executive in May last year, and its failure to monitor his performance once he was in post.
They also say that his departure could have been different had convener Sandy Cluness taken more decisive action over a letter of complaint about Mr Clark’s performance signed by six councillors in December.
Lessons had not been learned from the controversial departure of former chief Nick Reiter 11 years ago, even though several members and officers from that time are still in place.
Councillor Wills said Sir Robert Black’s investigation into the Reiter affair for Audit Scotland had been “forensic”, and the lack of accuracy and detail in this new report meant there had to be a public inquiry.
“We still need a forensic investigation and I think now we need a public inquiry, because it is clear from this report that there’s been serial failures of the elected leadership of the council,” he said.
“Unfortunately the report fudges the main conclusion, which is that most of the problems are the fault of the council’s leadership. They attempt to assign collective blame and that’s not acceptable.
“Those of us who have tried very hard over the past year to persuade the leadership to see the errors of their ways will not accept collective blame for the results of those errors. The convener should resign.”
In response, Mr Cluness said that if any councillor could command a majority then he would happily hand over the reins.
The report adds that working relations within the council have seriously deteriorated as a result of the fall out between councillors and officers during Mr Clark’s brief tenure, raising concerns about the council’s ability to conduct business effectively in the future.
Mr Cluness said this had been overplayed, and that relations were far better than the report implied. “I think perhaps this whole process has brought people together rather than the other way round,” he said.
Since a draft copy was released to councillors to be checked for accuracy last month, Audit Scotland have received responses from councillors, a council officer, a union representative and solicitors.
“Many of these responses serve to underline the continuing disagreements, the differences of interpretation and the lack of trust that exist within the council,” it says.
The report concludes: “It is of serious concern that a significant amount of public money has been spent on reaching a negotiated settlement with the former chief executive.
“The events of recent months have resulted in a serious deterioration in working relationships within the council. There is a risk that this will continue to affect the council’s ability to conduct business in an effective way.
“Elected members have not demonstrated their ability to set and maintain a clear and strategic direction.”
The full report can be found at
http://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/docs/local/2010/sr_100506_shetland.pdf
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