Dundee City Council’s ruling SNP administration has been branded “toothless and incompetent” over a years-long corruption scandal.
Members of the local authority’s scrutiny committee will meet today to discuss a probe by the corporate fraud team into allegations in relation to gifts, hospitality and the theft of smoke alarms.
A series of investigations by The Courier uncovered senior staff were treated to a luxury golf trip on the Spanish coast by an electrical firm awarded a lucrative council contract.
Former head of construction Mark Ross and his colleague Kenny Muir were charged by police under the Bribery Act but prosecutors dropped the cases last year citing “insufficient evidence”.
Almost three-and-a-half years after we first revealed details of the contract, the report to councillors 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.
Wall of silence
The report states bosses have since overhauled their procurement process, including the hiring of a category officer, procurement assistant and purchasing officer.
But the council – led by John Alexander – has been criticised for throwing up a wall of silence around the scandal and taking years to finally admit the public were left out of pocket.
All of those responsible have now left their council jobs and no officers involved in awarding the deal still work for the local authority.
North East Conservative MSP Maurice Golden accused the ruling SNP administration of allowing officers to “wall off repercussions”.
Speaking before the crunch meeting, Mr Golden said: “This late measure, introduced years after the fact, highlights once again how toothless and incompetent the SNP administration is.
“It’s a half-hearted attempt to close the stable door, long after the horses have bolted.
“Such industrial-scale murkiness in other walks of life would justifiably result in public anger.
“But under the SNP, Dundee City Council can just shut down criticism and wall off repercussions — nothing to see here, move along.”
‘Wholly unacceptable’
The report confirms that following the investigation, council officers “received confirmation by email around the updated prices which provided a saving and also included the disposal of old detectors free of charge”.
It adds that Edmundson “also provided assurance that they had investigated the matter and reiterated their company policy on gifts and hospitality to staff”.
Mr Alexander – who became council leader in 2017 – described the situation as “wholly unacceptable” and said changes have been implemented.
He said: “Clearly, its inappropriate to comment on ongoing police investigations, as well as internal investigations, but these have since come to a conclusion.
“What transpired was wholly unacceptable. Absolutely ridiculous that anyone would ever think it appropriate.
“Hindsight is a wonderful thing and the chief executive of the council, who has operational responsibility for the day to day running of the council, has implemented a series of changes on how contracts are handled to ensure that there’s never a repeat of this.”
Mr Alexander added: “No one is above the law and no one should ever be in a position of being able to potentially take advantage of their position – especially when it’s funded by the public purse.
“Unlike Mr Golden, we continue to work across the political spectrum to challenge, question and probe.
“All 29 elected members have a united view on these matters – party affiliation is irrelevant.”
Dundee City Council declined to respond to Mr Golden’s remarks.
Conversation