Suspended councillor Colin Stewart has been removed as chairman of an influential health board.
Cross-party councillors unanimously agreed to kick Mr Stewart off the Perth and Kinross Integration Joint Board, while an investigation into alleged bullying continues.
Mr Stewart was suspended from the local authority earlier this month, after an interim ruling by the Standards Commission for Scotland.
The probe followed several complaints about alleged “aggressive” and “intimidating” behaviour – allegations that Mr Stewart has refuted, insisting he has always acted in the public interest.
Many of the complaints arose from a chaotic meeting of the IJB in July, which – according to depute chief executive Jim Valentine – had been “deliberately engineered” by Mr Stewart to bring the council and officers into disrepute.
Mr Stewart became chairman of the IJB after a previous attempt by the then Conservative/Liberal Democrat administration to remove him from the board backfired.
Provost Dennis Melloy called a special meeting of the full council on Tuesday morning to discuss Mr Stewart’s place on committees following his three-month suspension.
He said: “It is my opinion that this business should be considered as a matter of urgency, to allow the council to consider any changes to memberships of committees and outside bodies following the decision by the Standards Commission to impose an interim suspension on Colin Stewart.”
Council leader Murray Lyle added: “It is necessary to make changes to ensure that the business of the council can be properly transacted.
“Once a final decision is received from the Standards Commission in relation to this investigation, these appointments can be reviewed.”
Mr Stewart will be replaced as IJB chairman by SNP councillor Eric Drysdale. Mr Stewart has further been removed from the Developing Cultural Offer Board, the Tay Cities Regional Joint Committee, NHS Tayside Board and COSLA Health and Social Care.
He will not appear at other council committees while he is suspended.
Mr Stewart said he noted the outcome of the emergency meeting, but declined to comment further.
Allegations against him involved Tory councillors Caroline Shiers, Roz McCall, Kathleen Baird, Angus Forbes and the council’s chief executive Karen Reid.
Council leader Murray Lyle alleges Mr Stewart “sent unacceptable text messages and emails to Ms Shiers, had questioned Ms McCall aggressively and had intimidated her, had shouted at Ms Baird and had spoken aggressively to Mr Forbes and blocked his path in a corridor”.
It emerged this weekend that Mr Stewart also faces legal action over repairs to a property he owns in Dundee.
The Sunday Post reported that the politician was ordered to carry out roof maintenance by the city council after water poured through the ceiling of his building, damaging a flat below.
Sequestration proceedings were launched by lawyers of the couple whose home was affected, and Mr Stewart was forced to pay out £15,000 to avoid bankruptcy, which would have disqualified him from standing for election.
He now faces fresh action from the couple for further repairs. Mr Stewart told the paper the dispute was a “private matter” and he had been in touch with the couple’s solicitor to resolve the issue.
