First Minister Humza Yousaf says he trusts the transparency of Dundee City Council, just days after officials refused to reveal details of a lucrative public contract to an electrical firm who treated senior staff to a Spanish golf trip.
Council chiefs have thrown up a veil of secrecy over the £4 million public contract to supply heat and smoke alarms.
A series of investigations by The Courier uncovered head of construction Mark Ross attended a so-called “customer event” on the Spanish coast with colleague Kenny Muir.
The trip was arranged by Edmundson Electrical just weeks after it was handed the smoke alarm contract.
Mr Muir was also found to have removed branding from a council vehicle and used it for his own private use.
The pair were charged by police under the Bribery Act but prosecutors dropped the cases last year citing “insufficient evidence”.
Members of Dundee City Council’s scrutiny committee met on Wednesday to discuss a report into the scandal but were left without answers to a number of key questions.
During the meeting, head of democratic and legal services Roger Mennie said it is policy not to comment on individual personnel cases in public.
He said correspondence from prosecutors outlining why legal cases against Mr Ross and Mr Muir were dropped could not be made public but that he was “happy to share the letter with members in confidence”.
It is understood prosecutors believe there was insufficient evidence the pair were directly involved in awarding the contract to Edmundson Electrical.
Humza Yousaf says Dundee City Council is ‘open and transparent’
In an interview with The Courier, Mr Yousaf, who lives in Broughty Ferry, says he believes the council is “open and transparent”, despite scrutiny committee members hearing “any information which is to be shared should be shared in confidence”.
He said: “I’ve got every faith in John Alexander and the council here in Dundee.
“Everything I’ve seen from the excellent Dundee City Council SNP group here shows me that they’re open and transparent.
“That’s why they were re-elected with a majority in 2022.”
“These are questions for John Alexander and the council to answer – people often accuse me and national government with interfering with local government.
“I genuinely believe we should empower local authorities to make decisions and answer questions that are important to the people in the local area.
“They are well respected and trusted by the people of Dundee – I’m sure John and the team will be open as they always have been.”
The council has been accused of keeping quiet surrounding the smoke alarms after taking years to admit the public were left out of pocket.
Almost three-and-a-half years after we first revealed details of the contract, the report to councillors for last week’s committee confirms Dundee residents were overcharged as a result of it being awarded to Edmundson Electrical.
No other companies were allowed to bid for the work despite a number telling us they believe they could have done it cheaper.
Everyone responsible has since left their roles and no officers involved in the deal work for the authority anymore.
Mr Alexander has since described the situation as “wholly unacceptable” and made assurances change has been implemented.
