Councillors are cleared Code of conduct was not breached
Two South Lanarkshire councillors who had been the subject of a complaint to a public watchdog have branded the investigation“a waste of taxpayers’ money”.
Bothwell and Uddingston councillors Maureen Devlin and Anne Kegg were found not to have contravened the Councillors’ Code of Conduct in their dealings with Uddingston Community Council.
A row had broken out between the councillors and the village group over allegations a member of the community council had made ‘defamatory accusations’ about councillor Devlin.
Councillor Devlin called on the group to respond and community council officials quizzed those who had been present at their May 2015 meeting, denying that any such comments had been made and calling on councillor Devlin to apologise to them.
Following the commissioner’s ruling, a spokesman for Uddingston Community Council said this week that the group still felt they had been “maligned” by the councillor.
A joint statement emailed to the Advertiser from the councillors said: ‘Councillors Maureen Devlin and Anne Kegg, who represent Ward 16, Bothwell and Uddingston, are very pleased that the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland has concluded, after investigation, that the matters raised by Uddingston Community Council against them did not amount to a breach of the Code of Conduct.
‘Both councillors utterly deplore the spending of large amounts of taxpayers’ money to conduct this exercise.’
In his decision dated May 5, 2016, commissioner Bill Thomson ruled the matters raised against councillors Devlin and Kegg ‘did not amount to a contravention of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct’.
According to the ruling, councillor Kegg told councillor Devlin comments had been made that councillor Devlin was ‘in the pockets of developers,’ but the commissioner also noted ‘there had been some confusion about exactly what was said and by whom’.
The ruling stated:‘[councillor Kegg] appeared to have indicated that the phrase was uttered on two separate occasions, namely on election day 2015 outside a polling station and again, albeit with slightly different words, at the community council meeting of May 21, 2015.
‘Irrespective of the words used or the number of occasions this occurred the first respondent took exception and wrote to the community council seeking a retraction and apology.
“The terms of her letter, on the basis of what she had been told, appeared to be quite measured and reasonable.’
Uddingston Community Council reported councillor Devlin to the commissioner following its June 2015 meeting and councillor Kegg a few months later.
A community council spokeswoman said this week: “Uddingston Community Council collectively and one of its members individually has been maligned.
“Uddingston Community Council seek that councillor Devlin retracts her assertion and councillor Kegg apologises for her inconsistent statements.
“Uddingston Community Council are duty bound to seek to maintain their integrity and the integrity of their members and are committed to pursue a resolution of this matter.”