Opposition councillors have called on the chief executive to set up an independent inquiry into the Arbroath schools merger controversy to get to the bottom of what was described as Angus Council’s very own Watergate scandal.
SNP education spokeswoman Sheena Welsh, leader Helen Oswald and Arbroath member Donald Morrison approached Richard Stiff, urging him to set up an investigation without delay.
The move came after Angus Council dismissed claims that it fiddled an informal online survey in favour of merging two Arbroath primary schools as “utter nonsense.”
However, Ms Welsh said an independent inquiry must be set up, adding, “The reputation of Angus Council is at stake here.”
An online survey was carried out by the council in 2009/10 with regards plans to merge Timmergreens and Muirfield into one new school.
Freedom of information figures have since revealed 1033 accesses had been made from a single IP address and multiple responses amounted to 711 out of 865 total entries.
Each multiple-responder voted ‘yes’ for a new school.
The question of multiple responses and where the responses had originated was specifically highlighted at a full council meeting where the decision to approve the school was taken by councillors.’Something is not quite right’Ewan Smith, a parent on Muirfield Action Group specifically raised the findings of the FOI at that meeting and Angus education director Neil Logue said he had been comfortable with the consultation process.
Ms Welsh said, “An independent inquiry is the only way to be sure that the council has been completely above board.
“No matter what the council says now the feeling among the general public is that something is not quite right.”
She added, “So many rumours have been circulating that it’s going to be difficult to quash those from within.
“If we got someone from outside to come in and conduct an independent inquiry we can be assured that no stone has been left unturned. At the moment there is a nasty taste in people’s mouths.”
Mr Morrison said the inquiry must be headed by someone who has never had a connection to Angus Council.
“There were already questions from the public and all opposition candidates early on in the process,” he said.
“These were ignored and thrown out and this is damaging the image of everyone in the council. It’s becoming our very own Watergate scandal.
“I agree with the comments made by the council, however, had it not been from the results of the informal consultation, the formal consultation would not have gone ahead proposing the Hospitalfield site.”
Muirfield Action Group campaigners have joined councillors in calling for an independent review to be carried out.
Mr Smith said someone clearly has a motive for making such an impact on a crucial consultation into the future of local schools.
He said, “We need to know who it is and why.
“Until we both have the results of any investigation and the survey is completely redone allowing people from Arbroath to properly have their say there is no way a new school can be built.
“The consultation process was flawed and this is another in a long list of reasons why we believe that to be the case.
“If the school does progress without an investigation into this computer issue then any new school will be tainted by it.”‘No further powers’A council spokeswoman said, “A failed attempt to influence the outcome of the informal online survey carried out in 2009/10, several months ahead of the schools closures statutory consultation, was discovered by Angus Council and publicly reported last June in the education committee report.
“The council has been completely open about this appalling attempt by an unknown individual(s) to influence the outcome of the online survey. The attempt failed as the submissions were identified and excluded from the consultation.”
She added, “The council made strenuous efforts to identify the source of the multiple submissions. Our investigation identified the distinct IP addresses of those accessing the survey. We established that of 1395 accesses to the survey just 23 came from within Angus Council.
“We identified that 1033 accesses had been made from a single IP address outwith the council, from an IP address provided by BT. We pursued the matter with BT but they could not release the individual’s information because of data protection legislation.
“The routing of any internet traffic is the responsibility of the relevant internet service provider (ISP).
“Regrettably, the council has no further powers by which it could access the personal data.”
The spokeswoman said, “The council stresses again that the informal online consultation had no bearing on the statutory consultation which ran from February 16-April 1, 2011, nor has it been cited by the Scottish Government as a reason for the call-in.”
She said the call-in seeks assurances from the council on road safety and the scope of consultation with parents of pre-school age children, “assurances we are confident we can provide.”