City ‘failed to control’ costs of statutory repairs

LOTHIAN MSP Sarah Boyack has accused the city council of failing to keep control of the statutory repairs scandal currently under investigation at the local authority.

Auditors Deloitte and Lothian and Borders Police are probing the ongoing scandal which has resulted in the suspension and sackings of a number of senior staff at the property conservation department.

The Labour member said the Lib Dem/SNP coalition had “hidden behind the Deloitte review”, the £1.5 million probe which has been completed but only shown to senior council figures.

The report has been with council bosses for more than a month. Releasing the information is complicated by an ongoing police investigation into the statutory notice repairs system.

Ms Boyack wrote on the Edinburgh Labour website: “At a time when we needed decisive leadership to find a way forward, the administration has hidden behind the Deloitte review.

“I have therefore written to the Auditor General, Robert Black, calling on Audit Scotland to look into the issue.”