Council criticism

Report finds fault with city council’s handling of abuse allegations

AN INDEPENDENT inquiry has criticised The City of Edinburgh Council for their handling of complaints of abuse by a senior manager and recommends an overhaul of the council's investigations system.

The report prepared by Susanne Tanner QC and law firm, Pinsent Masons LLP, is also highly critical of two former members of council staff, Alistair Gaw, former Director of Education and Andy Jeffries, former Senior Manager in the Children and Families Department.

The council began an internal investigation in summer 2020 when Senior Manager, Sean Bell, was suspended and allegations of abuse against him were reported to the police. Bell's body was found weeks before he was to appear in court in what appears to have been suicide.

In June last year an employee disclosed to the council that Bell had abused her during the 1990s. The employee also said that this was not the first time she had disclosed the information to various council employees.

The independent inquiry was charged with determining whether the council had acted appropriately in dealing with accusations made against him over aseveral years.The investigation, which has cost £654,000 in legal fees thus far, set out to determine whether Bell was involved in abuse and whether anyone at the council knew or suspected.

Bell was well known to many in the city, working in the Communities and Families division. The investigation established that it is probably the case that Mr Bell assaulted a fellow colleague sometime after 2010. This was reported to Andy Jeffries (AJ) who informed Alistair Gaw(AG) and the council failed to take any action such as setting up an internal investigation or making a report to police at that time. The report reads: “...it is completely unacceptable that such appropriate action was not taken” ....

The Inquiry Team believe that the failure to take appropriate action was a failing of the council and in breach of its own policies which were in force at the time. The report continues: “In respect of the individuals involved in the decision to take no further action (AJ and AG) – it was a dereliction of duty on their part, compounded by the fact that, as vastly experienced Social Workers themselves, they really should have known better.” AG stepped down in October 2020. AJ was first suspended last year and then resigned this September when shown the inquiry's preliminary report.