Aberdeenshire council ‘too close’ to Trump - Times Online
Aberdeenshire Council has some serious questions to answer about its relationship with Trump. We need full disclosure of all communications and an independent inquiry to ensure than the relationship is proper.
According to Sarah Malone the accusations in the Times are 'mischeive making'.
ReplyDeleteIf this had been a liaison between two private companies then that might be the case, But this is the actions of staff within a public body and those actions have to be judged against the findings of the Nolan Committee on the Standards in Public Life
Indeed Aberdeenshire Council's own response to Nolan and Scheme of Governance requires that the council
(b) put in place arrangements to ensure that members and employees of the authority are not influenced by prejudice, bias or conflicts of interest in dealing with different stakeholders and put in place appropriate processes to ensure that they continue to operate in practice
taken from Aberdeenshire Council Code of Corporate Governance Item 4 Dimension 5
http://www.enjoyworkenjoylife.org/docs/CodeofGovernance.pdf
However if the report is accurate I note the following
1. The request of 7 days pre notification of submission of a request for CPO not to fulfil any statutory requirement but so that council officials can manage the public outcry...
2. The term "thereafter close liaison"
3. The term "in order that we can have a managed approach to what is inevitably going to be a difficult and emotive reaction"
4. The unpublished Faulds report justifying why CPO's might be needed drafted in Gore’s name for distribution to council members (so an unbiased report then).
5. The issue regarding early discussions on the issue of CPOs in private (3 months before it became public) So much for openess, which is a key plank of the code of governance
I thought the duty of an employed officer of any public body was to maintain a high standard of conduct and probity which treats all applications fairly equally and impartially and steers clear of politics.
I am with Prof Miller on this because the actions of the council appears to breach Nolan and brings the professional integrity of Aberdeenshire council officials into question