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Complaint no. LA/An/120 concerning an alleged contravention of the Councillors' Code of Conduct by Councillor Alexander King of Angus Council

1. Complaint number LA/An/120 alleged a contravention of the Councillors' Code of Conduct ("the Code") by Councillor Alexander King ("the respondent").

2. It was alleged that the respondent had contravened paragraphs 3.15 and 3.16 of the Code which set out requirements for Confidentiality in regard to Council documents and information.

3. The Code states that Council proceedings and printed matter are generally open to the public, and this should be the basis on which councillors work. However, there may be times when information and documents require to be kept private. There are provisions in legislation on categories of confidential and exempt information, and councillors must comply with the requirement to keep such information private.

4. The person complaining ("the complainant") was Councillor Peter Nield. The complaint related to a press article in the Arbroath Herald on 10 September 2004. The news item contained information and comments by Councillor King, concerning the Council's plans for upgrading the Webster Theatre, Arbroath. Councillor King is Convener of the Resources and Central Services Committee. The complainant said that the information had been contained in a confidential committee report which was only considered by the Committee late in the afternoon of 9 September. He believed that the confidential details in the press article must have been divulged by Councillor King before the Committee met to consider the report.

5. The committee report was marked 'Exempt not for publication under paras. 6, 8 and 9 of part 1 of schedule 7A of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973'. Unauthorised release of the committee report was therefore prohibited by the Act and the Code.

6. The investigation established that the proposal to upgrade the Webster Theatre had been discussed at meetings of Arbroath councillors who had all approved the plan. In addition, the committee report had been considered by the Environmental and Leisure Services Committee who, at their meeting on 31 August 2004, had unanimously decided to carry out a public consultation on two options for upgrading the Theatre. The matter then required to go before the Resources and Central Services Committee for further approval.

7. Councillor King said that the Webster Theatre is located within his ward and he had long been aware that the upgrading of the Theatre was seen as important in the eyes of the public. Councillor King said there had been unanimous agreement on the matter. As all Arbroath councillors and the Environmental and Leisure Services Committee had shown unanimous approval of the upgrading proposals, it was felt there would not be any dissent at the Resources and Central Services Committee. Consequently, it was considered appropriate to inform the public as soon as possible of the Council's plans for public consultation.

8. News releases are drafted in and issued by the Public Relations Unit. Following discussions with the Council's Press Officer, the Convener of the Environmental and Leisure Services Committee and the Director of Finance, it was agreed that an official press release should be made so as to allow publication in the press as soon as possible after the meeting of the Resources and Central Services Committee which was due to start at 4.00 pm on Thursday 9 September 2004. A press release was drawn up by the Press Officer and normal embargo arrangements were made with the Arbroath Herald, which is a weekly paper, published each Friday.

9. The complainant believed that the Arbroath Herald was normally available for purchase on Thursday evenings. However, the Public Relations Manager said the publication time had been checked by the Press Officer who was informed the newspaper did not appear until Friday. Councillor King said he had made no personal statements to the press regarding the contents of the confidential committee report. The Public Relations Manager said that although a confidential report itself remains exempt, it may be in the public interest and appropriate to release elements of the report.

10. In these circumstances, I did not consider that the information passed to the Arbroath Herald was unauthorised, or that Councillor King breached the confidentiality requirements of the Code of Conduct. The way in which the information was released in consultation with other relevant parties in the Council, the decision making process and the judgements which were taken, were acceptable, particularly in the light of the forthcoming and imminent public consultation on the matter.

11. Having considered the information arising from my investigation, I concluded that Councillor Alexander King had not contravened the Councillors' Code of Conduct.

D Stuart Allan,
Chief Investigating Officer.
Forsyth House
Innova Campus
Rosyth Europarc
Rosyth
Fife
KY11 2UU
11 March 2005