A national watchdog will investigate the lack of emails surrounding an axed £128k-a-year director role at Perth and Kinross Council.
Audit Scotland says it will consider the issue that saw a top boss leave the local authority and the role subsequently scrapped without a single communication or meeting being recorded between senior management.
Alison Williams arrived at Perth and Kinross Council as director of economy, place and learning in February last year.
In August, she left the role to “explore new opportunities” before the position was axed altogether the following month.
Records will form part of annual audit
Through a series of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests from The Courier, the local authority said it held no records concerning Ms Williams’ departure or the removal of the role.
The council claims all decisions were made following unrecorded “verbal discussions” with the chief executive Thomas Glen.
Audit Scotland says the circumstances will now form part of a review into how the council operated.
A spokesperson for the national watchdog told The Courier: “The external auditors of Perth and Kinross Council will consider this matter as part of their 2024/25 audit work.”
Addressing the controversy, chief executive Thomas Glen said no emails had been deleted.
The Courier has appealed to the Scottish Information Commissioner which is also investigating the case.
Council apologises for mistake
Earlier this month, Perth and Kinross Council apologised for withholding how much Ms Williams was paid as a relocation fee to take up the role which lasted six months.
Originally, the local authority claimed the figure was not in the public interest after The Courier requested it via an FOI.
However, the later realised the information had been released within their own unaudited accounts.
Ms Williams was paid nearly £4.5k to relocate to the local authority.
The council’s in-house information governance officer said: “This information was incorrectly withheld by the FOI team in response to your request.
“Unfortunately the FOI team were not made aware that this information was publicly available, or would be published in the council’s annual accounts, when they were preparing a response to your request below.”
The FOI for which the council apologised for is different to the case currently being investigated by the Scottish Information Commissioner.
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