The leader of Dundee City Council has promised a full investigation into a roof replacement error that could cost taxpayers £4.4 million.
John Alexander says there were “multiple points of failure” that led to the local authority installing roofing that is below British safety standards.
We exclusively revealed yesterday how the “gross error” by the council is going to cost an estimated £4.4m to put right.
The blunder affects 450 houses, though the council has refused to confirm to The Courier which ones are affected, saying residents will be informed directly.
Opposition councillors have called for those who oversaw the error to be held accountable.
‘We want to know who’s going to be held responsible’
Councillor Kevin Keenan, the opposition Labour group leader, said: “This isn’t going to go away and we want to know who is going to be held responsible. Someone has to be.
“My understanding is that there were people at the council who were aware of this as long ago as the beginning of 2020.
“I am concerned that the council thought this would simply go away and they would never be faced with answering questions about what happened.
“We are demanding answers. I believe someone knows, chapter and verse, what happened and we want to know why that has never been shared with opposition councillors.”
It is right that councillors understand where those points of failure were and what will be done about it
Council leader John Alexander
It comes as the council may also be forced to fork out for repairs at the Olympia swimming pool, which is closed due to an “unexpected” lighting issue, with a report on that set to go before councillors next month.
Mr Alexander, who heads up the council’s SNP-led administration, says the roofing blunder is not a political issue – and that opposition members had as much involvement in the work as his own party did.
In response to calls for action to be taken against those responsible, he told The Courier: “There will be an internal investigation through our independent audit process, a further report to the scrutiny committee chaired by the opposition and another to the policy and resources committee.
“In addition, the administration will be seeking agreement from opposition politicians for an external independent viewpoint.
“It is right that councillors understand where those points of failure were and what will be done about it.
“Matters of discipline and staffing sit with the chief executive and senior management, not with councillors, but I am certain that officers are looking deeply into this, to determine what action needs to be taken.”
He added: “There were multiple points of failure including, as noted in the report, within the clerk of works service whose sole function is to ensure standards and quality specifications are met.
“As soon as there was full clarity on the extent, nature and potential costs of this a report was brought forward to committee and councillors were briefed.
“You can’t bring a report before you know the facts.
‘We have the means to rectify this’
“The administration has been focused on putting this right and fixing a problem that we neither created, nor had oversight of.”
Labour say they are concerned that cuts made by the council in recent years may have been done with the need to fill this £4.4m gap in mind.
Mr Alexander denies that, stating: “At no point was that the case.
“Decisions made at other times have no relationship to the roofing report and to suggest otherwise is false. We have the means to rectify this and it will be sorted.”
Maurice Golden, North East Scotland MSP for the Scottish Conservatives, has backed calls for a full probe.
He said: “As a single example this is an astonishing oversight which is going to cost the council millions of pounds to rectify.
“Local authorities across the country have been cut to the bone, so unexpected penalties like this could well end up in reduced services or council taxpayers footing the bill in other ways.
“People across Dundee will now be worried there are more cases like this waiting to be uncovered.
“The council can barely afford this one, let alone any other mistakes when it comes to safety standards in building.
“A full investigation needs to take place across the local authority to ensure all other national standards are being met when it comes to the quality of buildings and homes.”
Councillors will discuss a report into the blunder on Monday.
