Exclusive: Councillors accuse officials at Highland Council of a 'co-ordinated effort' to undermine scrutiny after being cleared of any wrongdoing by the Ethical Standards Commissioner
TWO councillors cleared of wrongdoing by a national watchdog have accused officials at Highland Council who referred them for investigation of mounting “a co-ordinated effort” against criticism.
Conservatives Andrew Jarvie (Inverness South) and Struan Mackie (Thurso and Northwest Caithness) were referred to the Ethical Standards Commissioner over remarks related to a pay-off package granted to a former council director last year.
The council complained that Cllr Jarvie had made an “inaccurate and misleading” statement about the pay-off, presenting it in a “misleading and provocative manner” as well as naming the director in public.
Cllr Mackie was referred after the pay-off and ongoing council reforms were criticised in satirical magazine Private Eye in October.
In response to that article, a statement was released in which council leader Margaret Davidson said chief executive Donna Manson ‘has the full support of the council’.
Cllr Mackie emailed to ask on what basis she made that claim when “the matter has not been tested by the elected membership?”
This was then the basis of a complaint alleging “bullying and harassment” of the chief executive.
Both councillors were found by the commissioner to be simply doing their job in scrutinising council business.
An email trail seen by the Courier shows how officers shared concerns about both councillors last year.
Among the disclosures, on September 10 Cllr Jarvie raised the issue of bullying in a meeting, suggesting some staff were too afraid to come forward.
The following day Mrs Manson emailed the head of corporate governance, Stewart Fraser, calling for a full investigation “as a matter of urgency” into Cllr Jarvie’s conduct “in recent weeks”.
She added: “I am also concerned that councillor Jarvie is damaging the reputation of the council and is making statements about the senior team that are totally unacceptable and must be addressed as a matter of urgency.”
A month later Kate Lackie, executive chief officer for performance and governance, argued a written question submitted by Cllr Jarvie ahead of a full council meeting – asking if relations between councillors and council officers were too close – should not be made public but addressed behind closed doors.
She wrote to Mrs Manson: “Cllr Jarvie needs to understand that it is not acceptable to continue to call into question staff competency, conduct or circumstances in a public arena – whether it’s the chief exec, the executive leadership team, or anyone else.”
Cllr Jarvie told the Courier: “The documents I obtained under data protection law outline a months’ long, co-ordinated effort by senior council officials to put a halt to us literally doing our jobs in scrutinising this council and challenging frivolities,” he said.
“The commission found the charges amount to ‘councillor Jarvie engaging in his customary councillor duties.’
“My exoneration, however, comes with an element of emptiness in that just how much of a challenge it is for a councillor to simply do their job and how many will stop at the first hurdle.
“Any grasp of humanity is lost and the motive becomes entirely to protect the institution and its so-called reputation – even if that behaviour undermines all confidence.”
As part of a lengthy response a spokeswoman for Highland Council said: “A referral was made to the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in October 2020 following inquiries by the council’s monitoring officer into a number of concerns which had come to his attention over a number of months.
“The referral was unrelated to and made no reference to any comments about bullying made by councillors.”
She added: “Prior to submission both councillors were invited to meetings to discuss the respective concerns and referral. The offers were declined by both councillors.
“The council takes allegations of bullying and harassment very seriously. The code of conduct makes explicit that bullying or harassment is completely unacceptable and will be considered to be a breach of the code.
“The council encourages its councillors to uphold and support a culture of accountability and transparency at all times.”
