A SENIOR politician on Edinburgh City Council has become embroiled in a row about a football junket arranged by a former bankrupt who is now a lobbyist.
Frank Ross, the authority’s SNP leader, was one of two Nationalist councillors to declare hospitality at a derby match in the Capital from “Jupiter Ltd”.
However, only one company of that name exists in the UK – in Bath – and Ross confirmed to this newspaper that the declaration was made in error.
It has now emerged that Denis Dixon, another SNP councillor, originally registered the perk as coming from colourful local businessman David Coutts, but the online entry was later changed.
The £150-a-head hospitality related to the Hearts-Hibs Scottish Cup match at Tynecastle in February.
According to official registers of interest, Dixon and Ross – who is now SNP group leader on the council – declared the freebie from Jupiter Ltd.
Jim Bryant, who is an elected member for the SNP on Midlothian Council, was also in attendance, but did not make any declarations.
Days after the match, Dixon registered the hospitality as coming from Coutts, who is a friend of senior SNP councillor Steve Cardownie.
Coutts was an SNP councillor in Dundee in the early 1990s before moving to Estonia to pursue a range of commercial interests.
After he moved back to Scotland in 2002, he played a role in Cardownie’s defection from Labour to the SNP and also set himself up as a lobbyist.
In 2006, it was reported that Coutts – who in the past has been sequestrated – was one of the figures behind CJ's, a club for adults in Edinburgh’s New Town that is now defunct.
Coutts was quoted at the time: “What we run, with the exception of Fridays and Saturdays, is a gay-friendly health club. On Friday and Saturdays, some members use it for private parties where consenting adults do as they wish.”
He continues to have business dealings with the council and has been granted “market operator” licenses for the Tron Kirk venue on the Royal Mile.
However, days after Coutts was named as the provider of the Tynecastle hospitality, Dixon’s online entry changed to Jupiter Ltd.
According to Companies House, the dormant firm is registered to an address at Limpley Stoke in Bath.
Dixon said: “In the beginning, I put down David Coutts’ name. He was there and he was the chap who, as far as I know, arranged the hospitality. I was then told it was Jupiter Ltd.”
Asked who told him the hospitality was from Jupiter, he said he could not be sure, but said: “It came in as a text.”
He confirmed that a number of SNP councillors were present and added: “There were a couple of developer lads there.”
Put to him that Jupiter Ltd was a non-trading firm based in Bath, he said: “I find that curious as well.”
However, Ross told this newspaper that Jupiter Ltd was an inaccurate declaration:
“It appears there was a slight administrative error in the name of the company on the register. It should be Jupiter Strategic Land ltd. Thank you for pointing this out and I shall ensure this is amended as soon as possible.”
Business databases show that Jupiter Strategic Land Ltd is a firm registered in Derby. Ross did not respond to questions about Coutts.
Bryant, who sits on his council’s planning committee, said: “I was invited by David Coutts.”
Asked why he had not declared the hospitality, he said: “This was an oversight on my part. The mistake has been rectified and I have apologised for my error.”
Cardownie was also at the game, but said he paid his own way.
Speaking to this newspaper, Coutts said he has a firm that specialises in “events management” and “lobbying”.
He said he paid for the hospitality at Tynecastle and was reimbursed by one of his clients, Jupiter Strategic Land Ltd.
Iain McGill, a senior Conservative activist in the city who was a Holyrood candidate this month, said: “It seems unusual that the declarations were changed. Transparency is important here and I don’t think changing the register three times meets the standard.”
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