Hearing considers councillor’s conduct

A HEARING to rule on whether an Argyll and Bute councillor breached the councillors’ code of conduct has adjourned until October 19 to consider its decision.

In an almost unheard- of meeting of its type, the Standards Commission for Scotland met at Kilmory Castle to adjudicate the case of Dunoon councillor Michael Breslin.

The hearing discussed a complaint made in May 2015 to the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life Scotland by four senior Argyll and Bute Council officers.

Former chief executive Sally Loudon, Cleland Sneddon of community services, Douglas Hendry of customer services and Pippa Milne of development and infrastructure services allege that Councillor Breslin breached the councillors’ code of conduct by not treating council employees with the respect and courtesy due to them as public servants and by raising matters relating to their conduct or capability in public.

The allegations relate to the content and circulation of emails sent between August 10 2014 and March 9 2015 on the sale of Castle Toward, the pay and conditions of externally contracted care workers and the management of Rothesay Harbour.

It is claimed the content of the emails was critical and disrespectful of council officers and that Councillor Breslin engaged in direct operational management of council services.

The report continues: ‘The respondent refutes the allegations under explanation that his legitimate scrutiny and questioning of officer-led actions has been misinterpreted as inappropriate criticism and that he had not sought to engage in operational management.

‘The respondent is of the view that there is insufficient scrutiny of officers in the council, and questioning of officers is part of the process of scrutiny.’

In one of the witness statements, the council’s head of governance and law Charles Reppke accused Councillor Breslin of ‘an intimidatory approach’ in one email, when he wrote he would publish an officer’s responses.

‘If he doesn’t get the answer he wants it goes into the public domain and he uses his blog. It clogs up the wheels of administration when officers have to get legal advice on how to respond to Michael Breslin,’ Mr Reppke continued.

Councillor Breslin denies the allegations of improper conduct, but admitted ‘there might always be better ways of expressing oneself’.

The hearing was adjourned until October 19.