Two East Kilbride councillors face a standards hearing

Two South Lanarkshire councillors face a standards hearing which is scheduled for May.

Council Leader Joe Fagan (East Kilbride Central North) and councillor Monique McAdams (East Kilbride West) will be investigated for allegations of breaching the confidentiality requirements of the Councillors’Code of Conduct.

An official from the Standards Commission for Scotland, said:“It is alleged that Councillor Fagan disclosed confidential information to the media and that Councillor McAdams disclosed confidential information on a social media site.”It was added:“The allegation is that, on 30 April 2021, Cllr Fagan leaked a list of leisure and culture facilities that had been identified for potential closure ‘to various local news outlets’by way of a press release”

Councillor Fagan was not council leader at the time of the allegation.

The hearing will be held on Friday, May 19. None of the parties involved can comment until after the hearing.

The Councillors’Code of Conduct plays a key role in setting out the standards councillors must apply when undertaking their council duties.

The codes both councillors allegedly breached are set out in section three of the Code of Conduct which relates to confidentiality.

The code reads:“I will not disclose confidential information or information which should reasonably be regarded as being of a confidential or private nature, without the express consent of a person or body authorised to give such consent, or unless required to do so by law. I note that if I cannot obtain such express consent, I will assume it is not given.

“I accept that confidential information can include discussions, documents, information which is not yet public or never intended to be public, and information deemed confidential by statute.

“I will only use confidential information to undertake my duties as a councillor. I will not use it in any way for personal or party-political advantage or to discredit my council (even if my personal view is that the information should be publicly available).