Councillor suspended for 'disrespectful' criticism of chief executive

A watchdog has suspended a long-serving Dumfries and Galloway independent councillor over "undermining and personal" comments about the local authority's chief executive.

The Standards Commission of Scotland (SCS) concluded Andrew Wood's public criticism of Dawn Roberts' involvement in the £2.6m purchase of new buses under delegated powers did not constitute bullying and harassment.

However, it decided his actions had been "disrespectful" to someone with "no public right of reply".

A panel said Wood's concerns could have been raised in private rather than in a newspaper article and suspended him for one month.

At the centre of the case was an article written by Wood and subsequent interviews criticising the way the chief executive had carried out the emergency purchase of new buses after Stagecoach ceased provision in the region.

These included claims that she had clearly "hijacked" council decisions and "abused her powers".

"What little confidence I had in our chief executive is now completely eroded," he said.

He added that he did not believe she was the correct person to take the region forward.

"I do find the present chief executive is not the most engaging person I have encountered," he told the hearing.

He said he was "very much aware" of breaching the code of conduct but still felt compelled to speak out.

"There comes a point whereby you just have to get the truth out to your constituents," he insisted.

"I totally reject that I was bullying and harassing the chief executive," he said.

The hearing at the Municipal Chambers in Dumfries was told the Ethical Standards Commissioner (ESC) felt Wood had created a "negative narrative" around the chief executive and refuted claims the SCS was being used to silence councillors.

"The framework is not designed to preclude proper scrutiny of performance," said Angela Glen, representing the ESC.

She said his criticism could have been made "in private and via the proper channels".

Roberts told the hearing the she had acted quickly and within established procedures to ensure the council avoided a "significant service failure".

"We had a matter of days to be able to secure services," she said.

She said Wood's comments in his article and subsequent interviews had left her feeling "disappointed, frustrated and undermined".

"I felt that the respondent was questioning my professionalism, undermining my authority and suggesting I was not following due process," she said.

Roberts told the hearing that had an impact on her own well-being and her family and had been "very demoralising" for herself and other staff.

An impact statement said it had affected her confidence in her role and she felt her "integrity, honesty and character" had been questioned.

The panel concluded Wood had breached three sections of the code of conduct in terms of treating everyone with "courtesy and respect", undermining an individual employee and following protocol for relations between councillors and staff.

It did not find his behaviour met the threshold to constitute bullying or harassment and had been "limited in duration".

A separate investigation into complaints about another councillor's alleged behaviour towards senior officials on the council - including its chief executive - remains ongoing.

An interim suspension was put in place on Ian Carruthers last year but the SCS decided to discontinue it in March this year.