A Fife councillor has been referred to the standards commissioner following a complaint about his conduct.
St Andrews Labour member Brian Thomson a beaten candidate in North East Fife in last week’s general election is alleged to have breached four sections of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct by failing to declare an interest in the outcome of a planning application.
The complaint was initially made to the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in February last year. He has now concluded Mr Thomson did contravene the code of conduct and has reported his findings to the Standards Commissioner for Scotland.
The commissioner decided to hold a hearing on the allegations and the final decision will be published on the commission’s website in due course.
The rules Mr Thomson is said to have breached state councillors must declare an interest, either financial or non-financial, or the interests of a close relative, friend or employer.
Declaration of an interest must be made at the earliest stage possible.
It has not been revealed who made the complaint against Mr Thomson and the subject under discussion when the code was said to have been contravened has not been made clear.
A previous complaint against Mr Thomson was dismissed by the commissioner last year.
It referred to a press article on a proposed judicial review of a planning decision to build a new Madras College in St Andrews.
The complainer claimed comments attributed to Mr Thomson in the article had been inappropriate and had pre-empted a proper assessment process.
However, the commissioner ruled the matters raised could not amount to a contravention of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct.
Mr Thomson, a former Madras pupil, came fourth behind the SNP, Liberal Democrat and Conservative candidates in last week’s Westminster election.