City of the surreal

Kenneth Roy
No more vexatious questions

It is impossible to read the various accounts of the recent disagreements within Glasgow's public sector community (as it might be loosely termed) without the occasional eruption of controlled laughter. I know it is unworthy of me, but I am afraid it is unavoidable.
     The reverential gravity, for example, with which the words 'Audit Scotland' are uttered in the Glasgow public sector community never ceases to amuse. It seems that our old friends at A S are involved in an investigation of the expenses claims of various officers of Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, the outfit which runs the toytown subway in Glasgow, the school buses, and not a lot else.
     For those of you who have been out of the country for the last month – lucky you – I will sketch a little of the background.
     Mr Purcell, the Labour leader of Glasgow City Council, as he now isn't, was deeply unhappy when he heard of the expenses claims, mainly for foreign travel, incurred by party colleagues serving an organisation in which the city council exercises a decisive influence.
     Within days of Mr Purcell becoming unhappy, a number of resignations followed.
     Alistair Watson, a fellow Labour councillor in Glasgow, stepped down as chairman of SPT on health grounds.
     Davie McLachlan, a Labour councillor in Lanarkshire, 'reluctantly' stepped down as vice-chairman. His health does not appear to be an issue. Judging by his public pronouncements, however, Mr McLachlan is an angry man.
     On the same day, 18 February, Ron Culley, a notable figure in Scottish quangoland and a former Labour parliamentary candidate, stepped down as chief executive of SPT on health grounds and in order to spend more time with his family.
     All three men believe they will be exonerated by the current investigation.
     Mr Purcell was then instrumental in the appointment of Jonathan Findlay, yet another Labour councillor, as the new chairman of SPT. 'I have asked Jon to take a firm grip of SPT and get to the bottom of everything that is going on there,' he said.
      But then something quite extraordinary occurred. Within three weeks of making this bold statement, Mr Purcell himself was gone. He too has health problems. He too is spending more time with his family.
     Meanwhile, new names are constantly being added to the cast of characters in this Scottish soap opera. Mr Purcell's crisis management consultant asked – it seems only hours ago; it is only hours ago – that the former leader should be given 'time and space' to recover. But scarcely had the 'send' button been pressed on this appeal than Mr Purcell's solicitors produced, via BBC Scotland, new evidence in the name of the former leader's psychiatrist, Dr Florian Kaplick, that rumours of the nature of Mr Purcell's ill-health were untrue.
     Yes, we must pinch ourselves. The former leader of Glasgow City Council not only has a crisis management consultant but a psychiatrist.
     Is the sending of a note to the British Blogging Corporation a way of giving the former leader 'time and space'? This morning, the Scotsman has returned to the attack with more tenacity than ever. You can scarcely blame it.

Where was I? Oh, yes. Audit Scotland. It is the watchdog in matters of public spending, ensuring that public bodies deliver value for money and use their resources 'properly and efficiently'. So it is the nation's book-keeper, but it is rather more: it delivers headmasterly reports on its pupils' performance, exhorting here, ticking off there.
     Unfortunately, Audit Scotland has itself been the subject of unfavourable publicity about expenses. Some time ago, the Sunday Herald reported that A S's senior staff had undertaken more than 40 foreign trips in four years, many funded internally. So far as I know, not much was made of this. No doubt all these foreign trips could be justified. No doubt all was properly accounted for. But it is a little awkward that Audit Scotland should now find itself investigating another public body's spending on – well, foreign trips.
     Last August, the board of Audit Scotland agreed that 'hospitality records should be published quarterly for all members of the board and management group'. I can find no evidence on its website that these records have been published. Indeed, the last board minute to be posted on the site was that of the August 2009 meeting. Has the board of Audit Scotland not met in more than six months? If it has met, can we please see the minute, which will of course contain a progress report on the publication of its eagerly awaited hospitality records?
     I wonder how the investigation into the affairs of SPT is proceeding and how long it will take. But I wonder also why it is necessary in the first place. The expenses controversy covers a four-year period. It is perplexing why, if there was anything out of the ordinary, it was not picked up in successive audits; why it took a Freedom of Information request to uncover matters of potential concern. I have every confidence that there is a simple explanation for this, and for much else.
     
Another source of mild hilarity is the enormous faith invested by the Glasgow public sector community in the watchdog of the newspaper industry, the Press Complaints Commission. When things were going badly for Mr Purcell earlier in the week, his solicitors referred the media coverage to the PCC, describing it as 'harassment of a sick man'.
     I assumed that, dealing as we are with the rough and tumble of Glasgow politics, no one else would dream of a reference to the Press Complaints Commission. But I was wrong. When a newspaper going about its lawful business contacted SPT with a few inconvenient inquiries about the disputed travel expenses, it was threatened with legal action and a complaint to the PCC on the grounds that it was asking 'vexatious questions'. I agree that vexatious questions can be a source of some, er, vexation. Let us have no more of them. Let us have meek compliance and, if possible, a prolonged and respectful silence.
     I am sure that would suit the Glasgow public sector community very well.