Council leaders face new questions over Gathering's funding fiasco

UNDER-FIRE city council leaders in Edinburgh have agreed to a new investigation over their controversial involvement in an attempted bail-out of the flagship event of the Year of Homecoming.

The council's new chief executive, Sue Bruce, will oversee a fresh inquiry into the botched attempts to prevent the collapse of the company which staged a huge clan gathering in Holyrood Park.

Council leader Jenny Dawe said she had "nothing to fear" over the new inquiry, the third to be held into The Gathering, which was given almost half a million pounds of public money and left debts of more than 700,000.

She told The Scotsman there was "no question" of the council striking a deal with the Scottish Government to settle more than 380,000 worth of debts to small businesses, insisting this was a matter for the organisers of the event. "I am sure that the chief executive will carry out a full and proper investigation," she said.

Tempers boiled over at the City Chambers over who was to blame for an announcement that gave the impression the city would take responsibility for debts run up by organisers.

Labour and Tory councillors declared "no confidence" in the ruling Lib Dem-SNP administration yesterday after Cllr Dawe and her deputy, Steve Cardownie, refused to apologise for the handling of an announcement that the city's fledgling marketing agency would take on the event and its private-sector obligations.

But the casting vote of Lord Provost George Grubb was not required to win the vote because the three-strong Green group abstained.

The two council leaders have been under fire after an Holyrood audit committee inquiry into The Gathering branded their evidence "not credible".

They launched outspoken attacks on opposition councillors, council press officers, members of the audit committee, other MSPs, the organisers of The Gathering and the former head of the civil service in Scotland.

After yesterday's meeting, Cllr Cardownie - who has vowed to take legal action against two MSPs and a councillor - was seen angrily confronting Labour group leader Andrew Burns, who said the two versions of events given to the Scottish Parliament over the handling of The Gathering announcement were "not reconcilable".

Under lengthy questioning yesterday, Cllr Dawe and Cllr Cardownie complained of being subjected to a "kangaroo court", of being accused of being liars and being subjected to "blackmail" attempts from political opponents for something they did not do.

They continue to insist they did not approve a rescue package announced almost three months after The Gathering, despite the emergence this week of a letter from former chief executive Tom Aitchison, which said they were present at a crisis meeting in the council leader's office the day before an official announcement.

They failed to clear up a number of unanswered questions over The Gathering, including the nature of the rescue deal agreed in Cllr Dawe's office, what plans were made to announce the bail-out, who approved the final version of the announcement and why any inaccuracies in it were never corrected or retracted.

They are adamant they have no recollection of press release, drafted by the Scottish Government, being circulated in Cllr Dawe's office for crucial changes and given "oral approval" by the council leader. But, for the first time, the councillors said they "regretted" that a rescue package had been announced prematurely.Cllr Dawe said: "Those of us who gave oral evidence to the parliamentary committee absolutely deny we have done anything that showed a lack of credibility. I am not prepared to say 'yes there was a piece of paper there' or 'no there wasn't'. I honestly can't remember. What I do know is that I did not sign off that press release. It completely contradicted my views. I most certainly did not give oral approval."

Tory group leader Jeremy Balfour said: "Cllr Dawe and Cllr Dawe need to apologise to the creditors and the people of Edinburgh for what went on here."

Cllr Burns said: "Many people's lives and livelihoods have been affected by the debacle of The Gathering."