QC rebuts `Monklandsgate' claims Report finds no evidence of nepotism or religious bias over district council's job applicants

q There is no evidence to support any allegations of religious bias in the making of any appointment to employment with the council.

q There is no evidence to support any allegation that membership of or connection with the Labour Party has had a material effect on any appointment to employment with the council.

q There is no evidence to support any allegation of nepotism in connection with any appointment of a relative or a councillor to employment with the council.

The forensic approach of Mr Nimmo Smith is laid out in his introduction to the report, in which he says he had read a large number of press cuttings about ``Monklandsgate,'' the ``Monklands Mafia,'' and ``Jobs for the Boys''.

He characterises the mood in Monklands by going on to say: ``The tone of the press coverage of these and other allegations indicated a general assumption that there was substance to them. I was thus not surprised to hear casual remarks about the council, such as: `Everyone knows they've been at it for years.'

``I am familiar with the way in which allegations and rumours can, by repetition, gain credibility regardless of underlying facts.

``They may be true, but again they may be based on a mis-perception of events or they may simply have been invented out of malice and passed on through ignorance and credulity.

``It was therefore obvious to me at the outset that elementary principles of fairness required me to proceed on the basis that I should only find that the council had failed to do what was required of it if my inquiry disclosed evidence which I accepted and which I regarded as sufficient to lead me to that conclusion.''

Mr Nimmo Smith tackles the various aspects of his inquiry in separate sections:

Appointment procedures

He says the council had decided, in late 1992, to review its procedures for appointing staff after widespread criticism, and awarded the task to consultants Ashdown Millan.

Mr Nimmo Smith says he regards the new procedures as being in accordance with current best practice and as providing the best available safeguards to minimise the risk of appointments being made by reference to considerations other than merit.

However, he adds that previous methods of appointment, when councillors were more heavily involved, invite comment.

``Where the perception that political power was exercised by a small number of councillors had led to disagreements . . . such ininvolvment was not only unjustifiable, but readily gave rise to the further perception that its persistence derived from a desire to make appointments for improper reasons.

``Councillors' involvement in the making of appointments prior to the adoption of the new procedures was in the circumstances such as to give apparent substance to allegations (of wrongdoing). For this, the members of the council must carry the responsibility.''

The Black Report

Mr Nimmo Smith is less than complimentary about the outcome of the inquiry undertaken by Professor Robert Black, professor of Scots Law at Edinburgh University, who was appointed by the council to investigate the various allegations against it.

Professor Black, says Mr Nimmo Smith, was under pressure of time to complete his work and had limited financial resources. One central passage of the Black Report is ``no more than a compendium of untested allegations''.

The conclusion reached in yesterday's report is: ``The unfortunate consequence of the treatment of allegations of nepotism in the Black Report is that they were given apparent legitimacy by their repetition by a person of independence and high standing.

``This led to press reports which described the Black Report as a `damning indictment' and as containing `damning evidence of nepotism'. He himself made clear in his evidence (to Mr Nimmo Smith) that he had never intended his report to be read in that way.

``Overall, the outcome of Professor Black's inquiry must be regarded as a disappointment.''

General allegations

Mr Nimmo Smith says he asked a number of political figures to give evidence to his inquiry. Many, he concludes, were unable to give any substantiation to the allegations which were circulating.

However, he singles out English Tory MP David Shaw for particular criticism. ``As his evidence went on, I became increasingly unimpressed by it. I regarded his attitude as irresponsible.''

``I had a strong impression that there was substance to the perception that political power was exercised by a small number of Coatbridge councillors.

``Councillor Brooks, in particular, struck me as a strong-willed man who liked to control the exercise of power. It seemed to me to be more than a coincidence that the wards of the `rebel' Labour councillors and the SNP councillors are in and around Airdrie.

``Although these are political considerations, and thus outwith my remit, I do not feel able to ignore them, because I think that much of the trouble which has arisen, and in particular the allegations with which I am concerned, stem from the insensitive exercise of power.

``If power is exercised in such a way as to lead to a sense of exclusion, suspicions are more readily aroused and rumours and allegations gain currency.

``I think that there was, for far too long, a collective failure on the part of the council to respond adequately to the allegations, and for this the chief executive (Mr Maurice Hart) must bear some responsibility. But such allegations do not form part of the normal experience of a chief executive, and they are notoriously difficult to counter, so I do not regard this as a criticism of great substance.''

Coloured employment forms

Much of the original criticism of Monklands centred on the use of pink and green employment application forms. It was claimed that the ``green'' applicants had the implicit support of councillors.

After examining the evidence, Mr Nimmo Smith says: ``I am . . . persuaded that the use of a green application form had no material effect on any identifiable applicant's employment prospects.''

Religious affairs

On the allegation of sectarianism, Mr Nimmo Smith is clear: ``I could find no evidence whatever to support any allegation of religious bias in the making of appointments . . . I conclude without hesitation that there has been no religious bias.''

The Labour Party connection

Mr Nimmo Smith says he fully investigated the claim that party membership was an advantage in gaining employment or subsequent promotion. He carried out extensive surveys of the council's building services and housing departments, and asked numerous witnesses about the allegation.

He says he was given full co-operation by Labour Party officials and concludes that no-one could justify the claim.

Councillors' relatives

The Black Report had alleged that a total of 68 council employees were relatives of councillors.

Mr Nimmo Smith says the true total should be 48, of whom 17 had not been appointed or promoted since 1990, the start date for his inquiry. He subsequently interviewed 28 workers and was ``favourably impressed by each''.