Calls for changes to the way the Inverness Common Good Fund is administered
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A CALL has been made for the way the centuries-old Inverness Common Good Fund is administered to be changed.
City financial consultant John West wants non-councillors or trustees to have a say in how it is spent.
Writing to the Courier after the paper’s columnist Charles Bannerman raised concerns himself, Mr West said it was time for the people of the city to “reclaim” the fund.
The former chairman of Inverness Civic Trust is forming a new organisation – Democracy Highland – to challenge the status quo.
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He said: “Recent events and the conflict of interest over the town house, as well as other events such as the Gathering Place (on the riverside) have given impetus to such a move.
“There is concern that the Common Good Fund has been politicised by recent decisions and funding awards and that the role of councillors as custodians of the Common Good has been called into question.
“It is not my intention to criticise councillors, many of whom are dedicated members of our community, but who are under political and other pressures when making decisions in regard to the Common Good.
“By having the administration and guidance of the Common Good in independent hands, this relieves the pressure on councillors and would reassure the community of the independence of the Common Good.”
Mr West was spurred into action over manoeuvres around the town house.
Declared a Common Good asset, almost £8 million from the fund was used for its refurbishment before, last month, it was revealed the council wants to move out of the property, which it leases from the fund.
The proposal by the council’s redesign board was due to be decided by full council as the Courier went to press yesterday but Mr West, speaking before that decision was made, said the move amounted to councillors foregoing their role as stewards of the fund.
However a spokesman for Highland Council said: “It is a common misconception that Common Good property is in some way owned by the inhabitants of a particular area. In fact all common good property within the Highland area is owned by The Highland Council, under the Local Government (Scotland) Act.
“The council has the power to sell, lease and otherwise administer the common good and in doing so they must have regard to local inhabitants and in some cases get court consent.
“It is common for one council service to ‘notionally’ lease property from another service in return for ‘rent’. The legal reality is that the ‘lease’ is in fact a management agreement as role of landlord and tenant can not be held by one entity.”
The statement ended: “Under the present statutory framework it is not possible for the Highland Council to delegate such administration and decision making to external bodies eg non-political boards.”
