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‘Heads should roll’ in Dundee Olympia pool scandal, says shocked former auditor

Bill Bowman wants independent public spending watchdogs to probe the controversial closure of the leisure centre.

Bill Bowman wants independent public spending watchdogs to probe the controversial closure of the leisure centre.

A former MSP and auditor wants an independent investigation of decisions which led to the controversial closure of the Olympia pool, claiming Dundee is too closely tied to the governing SNP.

Bill Bowman believes public spending watchdog the Accounts Commission or Holyrood’s Public Audit Committee must now step in.

Council chiefs in Dundee were accused of misleading the public after finally admitting they will not pursue builders Balfour Beatty over £6 million in repairs.

North-east MSP Bill Bowman. Image: Supplied

The centre was shut at the end of 2021, nine years after being built.

Nobody has officially been blamed for the rapid deterioration.

Mr Bowman is a former elected board member of the chamber of financial auditors of Romania and a former member of the Holyrood committee.

‘Entire careers would have ended’

Writing in The Courier, he claims “entire careers would have been ended and heads rolled” if the scandal had happened in Glasgow or Edinburgh.

He said his professional experience means the whole setup would have made him “profoundly nervous”.

The odour of this has damaged the council considerably.

Bill Bowman

The former MSP, who represented the North East region between 2016 and 2021, says the city’s strong group of SNP politicians makes it necessary for an external body to scrutinise the situation.

Mr Bowman said: “The odour of this has damaged the council considerably and that isn’t just the elected members, it’s the civilian framework of officers who generally try their best to keep the circus running.

“Dundee is more SNP than anywhere. The first minister lives there, the deputy first minister is a member there.

“There is an SNP council. All MPs and MSPs are SNP.

Humza Yousaf has unveiled his new cabinet. Image: PA.

“But it ain’t their fault. Just like when the community charges go up, or there’s a tax on showers in OAP homes. Or money disappears from some smoke alarm scheme or others.

“Dundee deserves better. It is for this reason I believe the matter should be referred to the Accounts Commission, if not investigated with the Public Audit Committee at Holyrood.”

The Olympia is due to reopen in October this year after work is finished and it is deemed safe.

But questions remain over the cause of the repairs, including problems relating to “initial workmanship and detailing” and “operational management of the pool”.

Dundee City Council leader John Alexander said previously there is nothing left to investigate and has refused to allow an independent inquiry despite calls for him to do so.

He was unavailable for comment.

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