Fife councillor to face disciplinary hearing

Snp: David MacDiarmid accused of making inappropriate remarks

A Fife councillor has been called before a disciplinary panel to answer an accusation that he prejudiced a taxi driver’s licence application by making inappropriate remarks about his past.

Councillor David MacDiarmid allegedly referred to the applicant having previous convictions, saying: “I think this man is a bully and I don’t want bullies driving people round in taxis in Fife.”

The SNP councillor, who represents the Howe of Fife and Tay Coast ward, is said to have made the remark, and other disrespectful comments, during a meeting of Fife Council’s regulation and licensing committee in December 2015.

Mr MacDiarmid will appear before a panel at Fife House on April 25. He faces being sanctioned by the Standards Commission for Scotland (SCS) if he is found to have breached the Councillors’ Code of Conduct.

The hearing, which starts at 9.30am, will be open to members of the public.

An investigation has already been carried out by the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland, who will outline the case against Mr MacDiarmid. The councillor, or his representatives, will then be given a chance to respond.

Professor Kevin Dunion, convener of the SCS, said: “When taking decisions on quasi-judicial or regulatory matters, councillors must demonstrate fairness and impartiality. A failure to behave properly and to be seen to be behaving properly in council meetings risks a councillor’s decision, or those of the council, being legally challenged.”

He added: “It is of paramount importance that our hearings are heard in public, to ensure transparency, trust and confidence in the system.”

The taxi driver had his licence refused by the licensing committee at the time, but that decision was later overturned after appeal.

Mr MacDiarmid declined to comment ahead of the hearing.

He is the second Fife councillor to be brought before the Standards Commission for Scotland this year.

Last month, the leader of Fife’s Liberal Democrat group, Councillor Tim Brett, was reprimanded for using his council email account and a council computer to send out a request for volunteers to help distribute election leaflets.

It happened when campaigning had started for the snap general election on June 8 last year, which saw the SNP’s Steven Gethins win the seat for North East Fife, beating Elizabeth Riches for the Lib Dems by just two votes.

The panel who heard his case in February noted he had made an “inadvertent mistake, rather than a deliberate attempt to exploit his position”, but Mr Brett was nonetheless censured for breaching the councillors’ code.

A failure to behave properly and to be seen to be behaving properly in council meetings risks a councillor’s decision, or those of the council, being legally challenged. PROF KEVIN DUNION

Mr MacDiarmid represents the Howe of Fife and Tay Coast ward.