AN inquiry into allegations of bullying and nepotism at Edinburgh
District Council must be conducted by a senior official from another
authority if it is to have any credibility, Conservatives claimed
yesterday.
Several senior council officials, a union official, and the Labour
leader of the administration, Councillor Lesley Hinds, are among people
named in a dossier compiled by an SNP activist, private investigator
Stewart Dredge.
Chief executive William Blyth has already ordered Mr John McMurdo,
head of legal services, to carry out an inquiry into the allegations.
But Councillor Daphne Sleigh, Tory leader on the council, yesterday
insisted such an internal inquiry was ''quite unacceptable to the
Conservative group''.
She wrote to Mr Blyth saying: ''For such an investigation to have
credibility to the outside world, it is essential that it should be seen
to be conducted impartially and at 'arms' length,' preferably by another
local authority.''
Councillor Sleigh is also demanding that the remit of the inquiry
should be broadened, with everyone named in Mr Dredge's document and the
author himself invited to co-operate with the investigation.
''Let me assure you that my insistence on an outside investigation
should not be interpreted as a criticism in any way as to the competence
or impartiality of our own officials,'' writes Councillor Sleigh.
There are several precedents for an external inquiry. An academic was
brought in to investigate the Western Isles Council's investment in the
collapsed BCCI bank.
A recent inquiry into allegations at the Convention of Scottish Local
Authorities was carried out by a senior official from an outside local
authority.
There was no response yesterday from the chief executive or the Labour
leader because they were on a trip to Munich, Edinburgh's twin city.
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