Call for investigation into financial mismanagement is rejected by the council

Hamish Hutchinson • Published 2 Feb 2012 08:00 3 Comments

FORMER depute council leader Bobby McGill was accused of trying to use the council to subsidise his "persecution complex".

Independent councillor Craig Holden made the cutting remark during a heated debate at Thursday's full council meeting.

It stemmed from a motion by the Labour councillor calling for the chief executive to "engage a suitable qualified independent auditor to look into allegations of financial mismanagement including inappropriate influences in financial matters involving elected members".

He did so in response to the continuing accusations of "financial mismanagement" by the SNP group, which he claimed did so without any proof.

He also referred to comments made by readers on the website of the Alloa Advertiser echoing the SNP group's statements.

Mr McGill said, "Let me be quite clear that this is not a rudderless ship or at least it wasn't up until the sixth of this month.

"Time will show us if the new administration is up to the job or as before talks a good game but fails to deliver.

"Our job as an administration was to set policy and to ensure the council had the necessary tools to work with to get the job done."

He said during its time in administration, the Labour group worked with senior officials to ensure the finances were looked at in a corporate manner but admitted that mistakes had been made.

Mr McGill said, "External and internal audit looked at these mistakes and in some cases officers had action taken against them because of their short comings. In none of these investigations were councillors found guilty of any improprieties."

He added, "Most public services, including councils up and down this country are facing severe financial pressures because of this many hard and unpopular decisions have had to be taken.

"We have to deal with the pressures on our finances not because of black holes or financial mismanagement but because like every other council we are being given less money from government at the same time as we are expected to deliver more."

Fellow Labour councillor Janet Cadenhead said it was a question of reputation for both the past administration and officers.

She said, "We are now more fit for purpose than ever before. The background [for the motion] is reputational. We are talking about financial mismanagement, not political decisions. Only a real look at it is going to clear personal integrity."

She described the SNP group as being "top notch" in the "black arts of spin".

However, the motion provoked little more than barbed comments from the SNP group and independent councillor Holden.

Mr Holden said, "Bobby would like the opportunity to spend more of our money to justify what they've done in the last eight and a half years.

"I don't understand why the council should have to subsidise his persecution complex. This is political debate. If you can't take it, you shouldn't be here."

While the motion gave council leader Gary Womersley an opportunity to describe Labour's financial control as "incompetent".

He then proceeded to list his reasons, including the Kilncraigs European funding payback, consultancy costs, the £9 million "black hole" and the £75,000 town centre traffic survey.

The SNP leader said, "There was a lack of financial steer and strategy by the depute leader of the council."

He added that he always reserved his praise for council officers and criticism for councillors.

Depute council leader Mark English meanwhile accused the Labour group of using the motion for "self publicity" rather than the good of the council. He added that any SNP "spin" was "based on fact not propaganda".

For Labour councillors it continued to be a pressing matter - George Matchett said he did not like his integrity being attacked, while group leader Sam Ovens said he wrote to the external auditor regarding SNP accusations and was told the attacks bared "no resemblance or discussion" to the council's current financial state.

But the debate was swiftly halted by an early move to the vote by Mr Holden. Using her powers as convener, Provost Tina Murphy agreed to end the debate as it was going "round and round in circles".

The motion was defeated by the SNP group, joined by Mr Holden and councillor John Biggam. Councillors Alastair Campbell and Eddie Carrick both abstained.

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This article appeared in Alloa & Hillfoots Advertiser 01 Feb 12

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• 

  ******
  Feb 4, 11:01
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• 

  Kev1987
  2 posts
  Feb 7, 08:58
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  Again the labour administartion looking to waste taxpayers money to conduct a pointless exercise, there is no need for any investigation into their mis management of finances, £75,000 wasted on parking/traffic survey, in regards to the PPP school projects- There are also concerns that the complexity of PFI leads to a long bidding process, in the process of which costs tend to escalate. There are plenty of examples in the data of both delays and cost escalation - with, in several cases, significant cost escalation occurring after the selection of the preferred bidder. Possibly the most pronounced example is Clackmannanshire schools, where the whole process from the outline business case to financial close took four and a quarter years: costs escalated from an initial estimate of capital value of £35.8 million to £72.7 million at financial close: more than £10 million of this escalation actually took place after the preferred bidder was selected.
  
  the source of this information being Margaret and Jim Cuthbert (independent economic researchers at Public Interest Research Network, University Of Strathclyde). i think this gives clear indications of their failings not to mention the councils failure to provide many tenants with showers which were due to be installed over 2 years ago, cuts to essential public services as well as the closure of the public toilet facilities, why now waste money to investigate mis management when their is clear evidence of it?
  
  Recommend?   Yes 3     No 3

• 

  Warren peace
  Unregistered User
  Feb 10, 23:52
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  The local politics of this council beats any soap on tele, I often wonder if any of them are fit for purpose..If itw as up to me i wouldnt let any of them run a bath.
  
  Recommend?   Yes 0     No 0

• 

  eyerite
  Unregistered User
  Feb 11, 11:09
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  Kev 1987 makes some good points there, what he failed to mention was the failure by the Council and its management to address the shortfall in the sale of the land the old schools stood on. I am led to understand that part of the schools new build project was the sale of the land at Alva and Alloa academies, however, the "estimate" for how much money the Council would raise by selling the land, fell fart short of what they had budgeted for, in other words, yet another example of financial mis-management. Could I suggest to Councillor McGill, he may wish to reflect on his time in power and ask himself if he was party to such glaring anomalies, then perhaps he should don his ten-gallon stetson and switch the lights off as he leaves local politics in favour of some other form of pastime4!
  
  Recommend?   Yes 2     No 0

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