Public Question Time
:
Minutes:
The Governance
Manager advised that the following public questions had been submitted in
advance of the meeting:-
Valerie Nimmo
When, and how will the consultations regarding the satisfactory
completion of Burnside Square be carried out, as so far, the levels of
satisfaction within the town are approaching rock bottom?
The Governance Manager
undertook to feed this question back to the Head of Roads and Infrastructure
Services and provide the response to Ms Nimmo and the
Members by email.
Fiona Macpherson
What lessons will the council be taking on board
over Donald Kelly's resignation as these reflect the feelings of much the local
community about how A&B Council fulfil their duties of care, including -
but by no means limited to -
(1) meaningful consultations over decisions being
made,
(2) a loss of focus on the responsibility of
Council leadership as Public Servants and
(3) what criteria does the Council use in
assessing its performance in these areas.
The Governance Manager undertook to feed this question back to relevant
officers and provide the response to Ms MacPherson and Members by email.Ìý
Ian Mitchell
What arrangements are in place within 51³Ô¹ÏÃâ·ÑApp & Bute for
members of the public to review consultation responses? I am thinking of the
Burnside Square consultation which Jim Smith, Head of Roads, told me yesterday
would not be made public as the responses were sent by email, not ordinary
mail, and that raised data protection issues.
I would not accept that without further information on the precise
legal situation. From whom in the Council can I obtain a definitive statement
of the legal position in this regard?
In the past, in the course of my research on other matters, I have
used the Scottish Executive library at Broomhouse
Drive in Saughton, Edinburgh, where responses to
consultations are kept and made available to the public on request. I cannot
believe that 51³Ô¹ÏÃâ·ÑApp & Bute Council does not strive to match the standards
of openness and transparency practiced by the Scottish government. Therefore I
also ask: with whom in the 51³Ô¹ÏÃâ·ÑApp & Bute Council structure should I make
arrangements to research the responses received by the Council to its
consultation on the Burnside Square development?
The Governance Manager agreed to feed these questions back to the
appropriate officers and provide the responses received to Mr Mitchell and
Members by email.Ìý
David Moncrieff (Present)
Why has 51³Ô¹ÏÃâ·ÑApp and Bute
Council Executives lied, thwarted an investigation of a whistle blower of
failings of health and safety regulations upheld by the HSE by retaliation and
victimisation of the whistle blower and dismissing me to stop the Council’s own
complaints procedure against Executive Director Douglas Hendry and the Head of
Legal and Regulatory Support, David Logan.Ìý
The advice that they asked for and received from Brodies
LLP Solicitors was to sack the whistle blower and the complaint falls as the
complainant is no longer an employee.Ìý I
have the very documents and emails that show Douglas Hendry advising to dismiss
me to save his own skin.Ìý Why is that
acceptable?
The Governance Manager
undertook to feed back the question to the relevant officers.Ìý
Mr Moncrieff indicated that
he had a second question in relation to Councillor expenses, however having
established that the answer to this question had already been provided, the
Chair declined to accept this question.Ìý
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