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Complaint no. LA/WL/199 concerning an alleged contravention of the Councillors' Code of Conduct by Councillor Stuart Borrowman of West Lothian Council

1. Complaint number LA/WL/199 alleged a contravention of the Councillors' Code of Conduct ("the Code") by Councillor Stuart Borrowman ("the respondent").

2. It was alleged that the respondent had contravened the Code, in particular paragraph 3.5 which states that councillors must comply with the rules for the payment to councillors of Allowances.

3. The person complaining ("the complainant") alleged that Councillor Borrowman knowingly accepted a Special Responsibility Allowance to which he was not entitled.

4. In 2003/2004 Councillor Borrowman received a Special Responsibility Allowance as an SNP spokesperson for Enterprise and Development. He resigned from the SNP in April 2004 and was notified by the Chief Legal Officer that the allowance which he received as an SNP spokesperson would cease. After his resignation from the SNP, he became an Independent. He had discussions with a member of the Labour Group from which he understood that he would receive a Special Responsibility Allowance as an Independent. In time, there was the possibility that he would join the Labour Party and sit as a Labour Councillor. In fact, his application to the Labour Party was rejected and he continued as an Independent member.

5. The implications of his resignation from the SNP were discussed at a Council meeting on 11 May 2004 and an Action Note was issued. Officers discussed the terms of the Action Note and dealt with it in accordance with a precedent set by the previous resignation of an SNP councillor who had also become an Independent and had continued to receive a Special Responsibility Allowance. The Action Note was ambiguous and open to interpretation, in this case incorrect interpretation. Although the approved Scheme of Allowances only covered payment to one Independent member, Councillor Borrowman continued to be paid a Special Responsibility Allowance between April 2004 and March 2005. At a later stage, Internal Audit looked into the matter and identified weaknesses in the system which caused this to happen and took steps to remedy these.

6. As a result of the action taken on the Action Note, Councillor Borrowman incorrectly continued until March 2005 to receive the allowance. He did not question this because he believed that finance officers would not pay him an allowance to which he was not entitled, and he had no reason to consider it was incorrect in light of the indications given to him by the Labour member. The Labour member confirmed that this had been his personal view. However, it was an incorrect assumption because the Scheme of Allowances for the year 2004/2005 was already in place and any amendment to, or additional payment of, allowances would have required to be formally authorised and approved by the Council.

7. In my view, the continuing payment of Special Responsibility Allowance to Councillor Stuart Borrowman was the result of incorrect actions and assumptions by others, none of which were done in bad faith. I did not consider there was evidence that Councillor Borrowman accepted the allowance knowing that he was not entitled to it. On being informed that the payments had been made incorrectly and receiving an apology for the circumstances in which this occurred, Councillor Borrowman took action to repay the amount in a lump sum. It was evident that lessons had been learnt within the Council in respect of the case and a general tightening up of systems and instructions was to be welcomed.

8. In relation to complaint LA/WL/199, having considered the information arising from my investigation, I concluded that Councillor Stuart Borrowman had not contravened the Councillors' Code of Conduct.

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