News / Swinney to lay down law with SIC
SHETLAND Islands Council is gearing itself up to a visit next Monday from Scottish finance secretary John Swinney in the wake of the critical report into the authority by local government watchdog the Accounts Commission.
The visit has been described by one councillor as like that of a headmaster coming to tell off a bunch of wayward schoolchildren.
Earlier this month Mr Swinney wrote a stern letter to SIC convener Sandy Cluness saying he was “deeply concerned” about the commission’s findings and urging the council as a whole to take immediate action to address its recommendations.
The letter was copied to all councillors and elicited an immediate response from vocal backbencher Jonathan Wills, who described the commission’s findings as “ignorant, unfair and patronising”.
Mr Swinney will catch the Sunday night ferry to Shetland and will return to the Scottish mainland on Monday afternoon.
Shetland MSP Tavish Scott meets Mr Swinney on Wednesday afternoon after leaving the Liberal Democrat conference in Liverpool, when he will discuss what the SNP finance secretary intends to say to the council.
The visit reflects the seriousness of the view the Scottish government is taking about the direction in which the SIC is going.
The council’s accounts have been qualified for the past four years due to its failure to group them with Shetland Charitable Trust, and the Accounts Commission said the authority was poorly run and needed to address its failings urgently.
Members are fairly confident they will be able to ease Mr Swinney’s concerns after giving their unanimous support to the fundamental overhaul of the way the council is run being put into action by new chief executive Alistair Buchan.
Convener Sandy Cluness said: “We have prepared ourselves to discuss everything of interest to the local authority, including the way we are going to take forward our response to the Accounts Commission, the future of our ferries and the likely outcome of this year’s financial settlement.”
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