GLASGOW City Council leader Gordon Matheson is at the centre of an inquiry into the promotion of a mid-level communications officer at one of the local authority's arm's-length management organisations to be a "political adviser" during the Commonwealth Games.

Internal emails between senior council staff, seen by the Sunday Herald, reveal that a "whistleblowing" investigation has been ordered into the circumstances surrounding the elevation of John Egan from his job as a media officer at Glasgow Life to work directly for Matheson - a move that came with a significant pay rise.

Councillor Graeme Hendry, who is a former leader of the SNP group in Glasgow, raised concerns about the transparency of the appointment and was told that Egan has been "seconded" to the post. However, it has since emerged that the council has no secondment policy.

Egan's publicly available online CV states that he was a media officer for Glasgow Life before moving to work for Matheson as a political adviser at the "nerve centre of the administration" between July 2013 and January this year. Matheson is now in the running for the Scottish Labour deputy leader post.

Egan was on pay grade 7 at Glasgow Life prior to the move, which comes with a salary of between £31,222 and £36,730, according to the council's own pay structure. After he was appointed to Matheson's team he was paid at grade 8, which means a salary of between £38,427 and £44,618.

When Egan moved back to Glasgow Life, his salary was reduced to grade 7, but the Sunday Herald has learned he is now being paid an "additional allowance".

The controversy surrounding Egan's move to work for Matheson was revealed in email

exchanges between the council's head of human resources (HR) Robert Anderson, the acting executive director for corporate services Carole Forrest, and senior SNP councillor Hendry.

In an email to Forrest to explain Egan's appointment, Anderson wrote: "The leader's office confirmed to HR an exceptional and urgent requirement for a temporary period for the run-up to and during the CWG [Commonwealth Games] to support the senior adviser in the work of the office, particularly, in relation to the CWG.

"HR confirmed, based upon the remit, that the post fell within the policy officer, Grade 8 generic role profile and specific skills and experience were required to fulfil the person specification for the post

... the particular demands of the post in terms of the knowledge and background required indicated that they would be most likely found within Glasgow Life."

In an email to Hendry, Forrest stated: "A process was carried out to identify a suitable individual for the post within the leader's office and having identified someone appropriate, that person was then seconded to the leader's office. I think it is only fair that someone carrying out the functions of a post is paid at the rate for that post.

"I can confirm that the individual moved back to their previous grade on returning to their previous role. I understand that role currently involves a number of temporary additional responsibilities, particularly in relation to the World Gymnastics Championships and the European Sports Championships and, therefore, a temporary additional allowance is being paid."

She also confirmed "there is currently no policy on secondments".

Hendry then asked that the matter is referred to the council's whistleblowing unit.

He said: "Without a policy it is understandable that some staff will feel there is a lack of transparency and fairness in how secondments are used. I have requested that a full and open policy is developed as a matter of urgency."

The situation is now under investigation by the council's head of audit and inspection, Duncan Black. In an email to Hendry, Black said: "I just wanted to let you know that I have been passed [on] your concerns regarding the secondment of an individual ...

I will investigate this under the whistleblowing policy and let you know once we have completed our investigations."

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: "I can confirm that we have received a whistleblowing complaint from Hendry. It has been passed to our internal audit unit and the details are confidential, so it would be inappropriate to comment on it."

He added: "Secondments are treated on a case-by-case basis and we believe that approach is

appropriate."

Matheson declined to comment.