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Complaint no. LA/G/375 concerning an alleged contravention of the Councillors' Code of Conduct by Councillor Steven Purcell of Glasgow City Council

1. Complaint number LA/G/375 alleged a contravention of the Councillors' Code of Conduct ("the Code") by Councillor Steven Purcell ("the respondent").

2. It was alleged that the respondent had contravened the Code, in particular, the key principle of the Code which deals with Selflessness, and paragraph 3.20 of the Code which relates to Dealings with the Council.

3. The person complaining ("the complainant") Councillor John Mason, alleged that the respondent failed to act selflessly and that he breached the provisions of paragraph 3.20 of the Code by "booking" premises for use by the Labour Group in relation to the Knightswood Park by-election, before opposition parties received official indication that a by-election was imminent.

4. The respondent is the Labour leader of the Council. The complainant is the SNP leader of the Opposition.

5. The respondent advised that on 13 September 2005, when Councillor Charles Gordon launched his campaign for the Scottish Parliament Cathcart seat, he was asked directly in front of several senior members of Scotland's media whether or not he would resign his council seat if elected in Cathcart, and that he replied that he would certainly do so. The respondent also wrote:-

"Charles Gordon was subsequently elected to the Scottish Parliament to represent Cathcart on 29 September 2005. In line with his previously publicly repeated pledge he resigned on 3 October 2005. This will have come as no surprise to the SNP: firstly, on the grounds that he had already stated that he would do so, and, secondly, because the SNP demanded he resign on 1 October on their Glasgow website, when they said they "look forward to contesting the up-coming by-election."

"From the moment Charles Gordon was selected as the Labour Party's candidate in Cathcart, there was a distinct possibility that he would be elected and thus fulfil his pledge to resign, resulting in a by-election in Knightswood Park. In view of this on 13 September 2005, as someone who has played a key role organising election campaigns for the Glasgow City Labour Party for more than a decade I made tentative enquiries about any property that might be available. On 3 October 2005 I again enquired about this and (subject to committee approval) was told that under the Council's "first-come, first served" policy that the Labour Party could hire this venue."

6. The Monitoring Officer of the Council provided a written response. The following extract from his response was particularly helpful:-

"As you can see from the correspondence sent to you by Councillor Mason, the Chief Executive wrote to him on 27 October 2005 about this matter. I would point out that the purpose of the report which was submitted to the Property Sub-committee was to delegate authority to the Director of Development and Regeneration Services to let election premises at a reduced rent. The report is not intended to be a signal that the accommodation has become available as the department's policy is that it will accept expression of interest in property at any time. Accordingly, it operates a "first come first served" policy which would mean that any individual could seek to reserve properties for election purposes at any time.

I appreciate that the position regarding election properties may not be entirely clear for elected members, and to alleviate any problems in the future the Chief Executive has undertaken that in the event of a letter of resignation being received from an elected member, the leaders of all parties represented on the Council will immediately be notified that the councillor has resigned and that a by-election will now require to be held at a date to be agreed. Thereafter, once he has agreed the date for the by-election as Returning Officer, he will write to the party leaders to advise them of the date. There is, in fact, a by-election currently pending in the Milton Ward and the party leaders have been advised in line with the new procedure. In addition, the Director of Development and Regeneration Services has been requested to seek an authority for all future elections and by-elections whereby he may under delegated authority let property at a nominal rent of £50, as this is the normal practice of the Council in any event. This will remove the need for a report to go to committee before every by- election."

7. The complaint alleged that Councillor Purcell failed to act selflessly, and that he breached the provisions of paragraph 3.20 of the Code by "booking" premises for use by the Labour Group in relation to the Knightswood Park by-election, before opposition parties received official indication that a by-election was imminent.

8. With reference to the allegation that Councillor Purcell sought preferential treatment, paragraph 3.20 of the Code states that a councillor "must not seek preferential treatment for yourself, your family, friends, colleagues or employees because of your position as a councillor" the Director of Development and Regeneration Services made it clear that any individual who had contacted the department seeking accommodation for the by-election would have been dealt with in exactly the same way as Councillor Purcell was. Accordingly there could be no suggestion that Councillor Purcell sought or was afforded preferential treatment by the department.

9. The new arrangements for letting property for use in relation to elections (as described by the Monitoring Officer in paragraph 6 above) are intended to make the position regarding election properties clearer for elected members, and should achieve this aim.

10. Having considered the information that arose from my investigation, I concluded that Councillor Steven Purcell had not contravened the Councillors' Code of Conduct.

D Stuart Allan,
Chief Investigating Officer.
Forsyth House
Innova Campus
Rosyth Europarc
Rosyth
Fife
KY11 2UU
16 March 2006