Inquiry into council repairs worker who ran a building firm

A COUNCIL property conservation employee is under investigation after it emerged he was running a private business offering to take on statutory repairs notice work as a second job, the Evening News can reveal.

John Jack, who was working as a surveyor until he was suspended along with at least 15 colleagues, offered through his independent business, Lothian Property Matters, to help with building defects, common repairs and statutory repairs notices - even though he works full-time for the council in a similar role.

The News has learned that it is not the first time an employee within the property conservation department has been investigated. It is believed that a property worker was dismissed in 2005 after he was found to be running an independent business in building repairs.

Deloitte auditors, who are carrying out an independent investigation into the department, are looking at whether there was a conflict of interest as Mr Jack juggled the two jobs.

It is thought that a number of current employees ran their own independent businesses in the property and repairs sector, all of which are being considered.

Officials are investigating whether any worker ran a private business during working hours and probing whether any sensitive financial information was used by employees outside their council role.

On Mr Jack's website he lists a section dedicated to "Statutory Repair Notices" and says "We can help in these situations".

A council spokesman pointed out that having a second job was not against council rules, as long as it had been sanctioned by the head of services or the director of the department. It is believed that Mr Jack's business was given approval a few years ago.

Inside sources said they believed some careless decisions had been made, especially as private businesses were not always monitored.

One pointed out that although there might be nothing wrong with the businesses under investigation, they should not have been allowed in the first place due to the high potential for a conflict of interest.

Councillor Ewan Aitken, who is aiding dozens of constituents with their statutory notice grievances, said: "If all these allegations are proven to be true, this department's working practices were rotten to the core and it needs to be sorted immediately."

An inside source said: "The big concern here is the misjudgment by the senior managers that allowed this practice.It's one thing having a second job that's unrelated to your day job, but this is something else."

The source added: "If there were warning signs years ago, why wasn't this process monitored more robustly?"

A spokesman for the council said: "If there were any staff who had a private business in breach of council policy then this would form part of the ongoing investigation."

When contacted, Mr Jack said: "I have no comment to make." He added: "Lothian Property Matters ceased operating some time ago. The website was left up to allow CEC to conclude their investigations."