MacLaren forced to say sorry over leak accusations

Published on Friday 19 September 2008 09:51

EDUCATION leader Marilyne MacLaren is set to be ordered to apologise to a parent representative she accused of leaking information to the press.

The council's chief executive, Tom Aitchison, called for an investigation after Lynda Flex was removed from the group set up to consider school closures.

Mrs Flex had been accused by Councillor MacLaren of passing on information about which schools would face the axe, something which she denied.

An internal investigation into the affair has now been completed, but Mr Aitchison is refusing to disclose its contents to councillors until at least next week.

However, sources inside the council say it concludes that Cllr MacLaren, below, was wrong to remove Mrs Flex from the forum and she will now have to apologise and reinstate her.

An insider said: "The report confirms that Marilyne acted incorrectly and that Lynda Flex was not the source of the leaks and that something will need to be put in place to rectify the situation."

The cross-party group looking into the city's school rationalisation plans was set up at the end of last year and is made up of parent, teacher and church representatives as well as politicians.

All members were told to keep the forum's discussions confidential, and no reports or minutes from the meetings have ever been made public.

But after the Evening News printed a story in April naming the primary schools facing the axe, ahead of the council's official announcement in June, Cllr MacLaren accused Mrs Flex of leaking the information and ordered her removed from the forum.

Cllr MacLaren claimed she had "incontrovertible proof" that Mrs Flex – who was not the original source of the story and did not contact the Evening News – had passed on the details.

But the investigation ordered by Mr Aitchison and carried out by the council's former head of corporate services, Dr Ralph Musgrave, is said to reveal that this "incontrovertible proof" does not exist.

Cllr MacLaren's decision to remove Mrs Flex from the forum was met with criticism from other members of the group.

At a meeting in June, when members of the forum were finalising which schools would be on the closure hit-list, three members walked out in protest.

Mr Aitchison told councillors at the full council meeting yesterday that he hopes to be able to report to councillors next week.

He added: "I am currently in contact with Cllr MacLaren and the complainant about the independent report.

"I am exploring with them what action is needed to resolve the issues raised in the complaint."

Craigentinny and Duddingston councillor Ewan Aitken, who is Mrs Flex's local councillor, called for the full report to be made public.

He said: "I am of the view that the whole report should be public because we can only understand the conclusions, and why these conclusions have been reached, if we know the context of the investigation itself."

Mrs Flex, who is also awaiting the results of a Standards Commission complaint, declined to comment on the findings of the investigation at this stage.