Councillor censured for budget leak

Aleading member of Aberdeen Council’ s administration has been censured for revealing secret budget details to the public.

Marie Boulton was found to have breached the councillor’s code of conduct by a standards commission panel yesterday.

Mrs Boulton – convener of the council’s capital programme – admitted telling a public meeting financial information about the 2019 council budget.

The watchdog panel rejected her argument the information was already in the public domain.

The details came from a document outlining budget options for the council in the coming financial year, indicating a likely shortfall of around £45 million – something that had not been confirmed.

Its cover, in bright red, stated: “This folder contains confidential information and must not be disclosed to any third party.”

Martin Campbell, speaking for the Ethical Standards Commissioner, dismissed a semantic argument around what the warning covered, adding: “In any ordinary reading, that is a clear indication the contents were confidential.”

Mrs Boulton, leader of the independent alliance which props up the Conservative and Labour coalition, shook her head as Mr Campbell said her argument “lacked logic”.

She and solicitor Duncan Love produced a letter from accountancy firm Campbell Dallas, claiming to show how a £44m figure could be uncovered by any adult, before her breach at a community council meeting on January 24.

Mrs Boulton said: “If they had the information in front of them, most people could have worked out the figure.”

The three documents include the council’ s 2017/ 18 general revenue budget published in March 2018, and a briefing note on the government finance settlement for 2019/20 and a local government finance circular – each issued nine months later.

The calculation that “most people” could have carried out also relied on a knowledge of how much is raised through council tax in Aberdeen every year.

Chairman Michael McCormick announced the panel’s decision to censure Mrs Boulton yesterday, ruling the £45m figure was not “readily accessible”.

Mrs Boulton said she was “obviously disappointed”.

The panel said no further action was necessary.

WRIST SLAP: Marie Boulton did not convince the watchdog. Picture by Scott Baxter