Row over hiring of former Labour MSP

Scottish Political Editor

Sunday 26 August 2012

THE leader of Glasgow City Council has been dragged into a sleaze row over the former Labour minister Tom McCabe landing a £50,000-a-year job with the local authority.

Tom McCabe failed to get re-elected last year and has now landed a £50,000-a-year job with Glasgow City Council Photograph: Graham Hamilton

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EXCLUSIVE by Tom Gordon Scottish Political Editor

The SNP accused Glasgow Labour leader Gordon Matheson of being too close to the appointment, after it emerged he was briefed about McCabe's application by his top official. Matheson was alerted by George Black, chief executive of Glasgow City Council, in advance of McCabe being interviewed in July.

McCabe, 58, who failed to get re-elected as an MSP in 2011 in Hamilton South, beat 53 other applicants to become policy adviser at the council's Land and Environmental Services (LES) department.The council said it was "routine" to inform the leader of potential controversies.The dialogue between Matheson and Black was confirmed by Annemarie O'Donnell, executive director of the council's corporate services, who was also one of those who interviewed McCabe. Asked by the SNP about who knew of McCabe's application, she wrote: "I understand that Mr Black informed the leader of the application during one of his regular meetings. No [councillor] was informed of the appointment until after we had offered and Mr McCabe had verbally accepted the post."James Dornan, the SNP MSP for Glasgow Cathcart, said: "This information clearly shows that there was special consideration being made of Mr McCabe even before the vetting process began. It is imperative Black and Cllr Matheson reveal what was discussed during their chat regarding Mr McCabe's application."Glasgow City Council has also still to explain why this appointment was required so soon after the post appears to have been previously deleted." Glasgow Tory councillor David Meikle added: "With this drip-drip of new information coming out, it's time for an outside investigation to clear up any ambiguities."McCabe got the post despite having two jobs, one running his own consultancy, TAS Business Solutions Ltd, and another helping manage investments in tax havens. The latter earns him up to £10,000 a year for two days' work a month. Despite the previous LES policy adviser taking redundancy in March, LES decided to "reinvest", leading to a vacancy in May. LES executive director Brian Devlin, who met McCabe in January, decided to advertise the post externally, a move justified by claiming the council was "uncertain" its existing staff had or could develop the right "skill sets".A council spokesman said: "It is the responsibility of the chief executive to inform the leader of the council about matters which may attract the interest of the media. "He also briefs the leaders of the opposition groups in similar circumstances. Mr McCabe was appointed solely on the basis of his application after an open and transparent process and no elected member played any part in that process."As a council employee, McCabe cannot comment.

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Row over hiring of former Labour MSP

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