News / Sandy welcomes public hearing into SIC
SHETLAND Islands Council convener Sandy Cluness has welcomed the Accounts Commission’s decision to hold a public hearing into the local authority.
The local government finance watchdog called for the hearing after discussing a report by the Controller of Audit into the way the SIC is run, and particularly the recruitment and subsequent departure of its former chief executive David Clark.
Accounts Commission chairman John Baillie said: “The commission is particularly interested to hear first hand from the council and other relevant parties to gather further evidence and understand better the council’s situation.”
Mr Cluness said he hoped the public hearing would be held shortly and expected it to be conducted before the end of June.
Last December the Accounts Commission expressed “serious concern” about events in Shetland after difficulties between councillors and Mr Clark became headline news and Audit Scotland qualified the council’s accounts for the fourth time.
They sent in auditors to carry out an investigation and yesterday discussed the subsequent report, which was highly critical of the way the authority has been run, pointing to failures of leadership and members not acting in the interests of the council as a whole.
It also said that working relationships within the SIC had deteriorated during the tenure of Mr Clark to the point that it might not be able to perform effectively as an organisation.
Mr Clark left office in January eight months after taking up the post of chief executive. The following month he was awarded a tax free sum of £285,000, with the council picking up his legal costs.
The move caused uproar in the community and brought calls for Mr Clark to be sacked and councillors to resign en masse.
Yesterday convener Cluness said that he hoped a public hearing would explain why the council had been advised to pay Mr Clark so much public money.
“At long last we might get everything out into the open and (local government umbrella group) COSLA will be able to say why they advised us as they did,” he said.
Mr Cluness regards the hearing as a positive step which will help the council on the road to recovery.
“We will have to do our best to present the council. Despite what is being said about it, it still delivers good services and makes a big contribution to these islands. This has been a difficult period, but I think we have a good story to tell.”
The hearing was also welcomed by local MSP Tavish Scott, who said: “Local people in Shetland have been very concerned by recent events.
“The Accounts Commission’s decision to hold a public inquiry is an important step in ensuring that local people understand what happened and that lessons will be learnt for the future.”
Councillor Gussie Angus, who chairs the council’s powerful services committee, said he had no idea what the hearing would involve or who would be interviewed “but if it helps to shed light on dark corners I think it’s a good thing”.
Mr Angus was one of six councillors who sent a letter to convener Cluness in December last year listing 20 concerns about Mr Clark’s performance.
The commission will publish its findings and present any recommendations to the council and perhaps Scottish ministers as well.
This will be the third public hearing into a local authority in Scotland. The Accounts Commission will shortly announce details of when and where it will be held, along with who will be interviewed and how long it will take.
SIC councillors will discuss the Controller of Audit’s report at their next full council meeting on Wednesday 19 May.
The SIC is currently advertising for an interim chief executive to replace Mr Clark for a period of two and a half years. It is understood a substantial number of people have shown an interest in the position.
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