Supervision of the conduct and financial audit of Community Councils.

Duncan Gordon made this Freedom of Information request to Dumfries and Galloway Council This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

The request was partially successful.

Dear Dumfries and Galloway Council,

Please provide information on the official requirements for independent supervision of the conduct and financial audit of Community Councils in the Dumfries and Galloway region.

This request follows information from a former member of Sanquhar Community Council who advised that when she was a member this was in the control of Freemasons who made the decisions outwith the meetings and corruption was endemic.

From the document supplied in relation to another FOI request, it is clear that at least Sanquhar Community Council does not meet the requirements stipulated. This document can be seen here:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/4...

What investigation can an external, independent, body undertake?

Yours faithfully,

Duncan Gordon

Dumfries and Galloway Council

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002

Thank you for your request for information which was received on 25/06/2018 which we are dealing with in terms of the above legislation. We have given your request the unique reference 344224 and we would appreciate it if you could quote this on all correspondence to us.

Under the terms of the legislation, we have an obligation to respond to your request within 20 working days from the day after your request was received. We will therefore aim to respond to your request by 23/07/2018.

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If you have any queries in the meantime, please contact [email address].

Kind Regards

FOI Unit
Dumfries and Galloway Council

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Dumfries and Galloway Council

Please find below the Council's response to your request 344224 which was received on 25/06/2018.

Details of request: Please provide information on the official requirements for independent supervision of the conduct and financial audit of Community Councils in the Dumfries and Galloway region.

This request follows information from a former member of Sanquhar Community Council who advised that when she was a member this was in the control of Freemasons who made the decisions outwith the meetings and corruption was endemic.

From the document supplied in relation to another FOI request, it is clear that at least Sanquhar Community Council does not meet the requirements stipulated. This document can be seen here:

https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outl...

What investigation can an external, independent, body undertake?

Response:

Dumfries and Galloway Council is required by law to produce a Scheme for the Establishment of Community Councils in Dumfries and Galloway. This is available at http://www.dumgal.gov.uk/media/18244/Sch.... This Scheme provides the governance framework for all Community Councils to follow. The scope of audit requirements in the Scheme is for Community Councils to present independently examined accounts to an AGM each year.

Any concern or complaint of corruption, should be brought to the attention of Police Scotland as this is a criminal offence. Whilst Dumfries and Galloway Council (DGC) has limited powers to intervene in the running of a Community Council, DGC would be concerned about any allegation involving funds it provided to a Community Council, such as Common Good Funds or the allowance provided to support the administration and operation of a Community Council. However, DGC has no locus in monies provided through other funders, such as community benefit windfarm allocations, and any concerns about these should be directed to the fund administering body (in this case, Foundation Scotland).

Where you have specific, non-criminal concerns about the use of Dumfries and Galloway Council funds they should be given in writing, with supporting evidence, to Dumfries and Galloway Council, Communities Directorate, Municipal Chambers, Buccleuch Street, Dumfries, DG1 2AD.

Please be aware that the Council holds the copyright, where applicable, for the information provided and it may be reproduced free of charge in any format or media without requiring specific permission. This is subject to the material not being used in a misleading context. The source of the material must be acknowledged as Dumfries and Galloway Council and the title of the document must be included when being reproduced as part of another publication or service.

If you require any further clarification, please contact us. However, if you are not satisfied with the way in which your request has been dealt with, you can request us to carry out an internal review of the decision by emailing [email address] or writing to us within 40 working days of receiving this response.

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of the review, you have the right to apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner for a decision. Appeals to the Commissioner can be made online at www.itspublicknowledge.info/Appeal or in writing to: The Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner, Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9DS.

Kind Regards

FOI Unit
Dumfries and Galloway Council

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Dear Dumfries and Galloway Council,

Thank you for your response concerning this matter.

One issue that I would like some clarification on is the failure by Sanquhar Community Council to comply with the requirements for Community Councils as set out here:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/4...

The information I have been given indicates that these procedures are not being followed in Sanquhar. What can be done about this and who is responsible for supervision for these failures?

Yours faithfully,

Duncan Gordon

FOI, Dumfries and Galloway Council

Dear Mr Gordon

In response to your further email:-

Any concern or complaint of corruption, should be brought to the attention of Police Scotland as this is a criminal offence.

Where you have specific, non-criminal concerns about the use of Dumfries and Galloway Council funds they should be given in writing, with supporting evidence, to Dumfries and Galloway Council, Communities Directorate, Municipal Chambers, Buccleuch Street, Dumfries, DG1 2AD or by email to [email address]. Should you wish to discuss a specific matter please contact Kirsty Peden, Community Engagement Manager, on 030 33 33 3000.

Kind Regards

FOI Unit
Dumfries and Galloway Council

show quoted sections

Dear FOI,

Thank you for your response of 6 August 2018.

I appreciate the information you have provided regarding criminal offences and misuse of public monies but you haven't answered the question about the failures to comply with the requirements for Community Councils set out here:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/4...

I am referring to failures to supply minutes, holding meetings in private without advising anyone, not allowing members of the public to speak in meetings, plus more matters which are in breach of the requirements set out in this document. Who is responsible for such issues please? In the event it is a case of no one supervising these matters, then please state this.

Yours sincerely,

Duncan Gordon

Duncan Gordon (Account suspended) left an annotation ()

It has taken a number of attempts to get Dumfries and Galloway Council to respond to the question about a failure to comply with the regulations set out in the document on Community Councils. To date they have refused to provide any explanation as to what happens when a community council declines to comply with the regulations designed to make them accountable. It is known that Sanquhar Community Council has failed to comply with these requirements for years. How do they get away with it? Is it another example of Masonic corruption?

Dear Dumfries and Galloway Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Dumfries and Galloway Council's handling of my FOI request 'Supervision of the conduct and financial audit of Community Councils.'.

Despite further requests to supply a full response to my original FOI post on 23 June 2018, this remains outstanding. The original request referred to the requirements for Community Councils and contained a link to the council document. It also asked for information on how the requirements in the document were supervised, or regulated, by an independent third party. Please state the procedures when a community council does not adhere to the requirements on it as stated in the official guidelines. This is of broader scope than criminal conduct and mis use of public monies.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/s...

Yours faithfully,

Duncan Gordon

Johnstone, Joanne, Dumfries and Galloway Council

1 Attachment

Good afternoon Mr Gordon,

 

Please find attached your FOISA Request for Review reference 344224
Letter.

 

Regards,

 

Joanne Johnstone | Administrator

Corporate Services, Legal and Democratic Services,

Dumfries and Galloway Council, Council Head Quarters,

English Street, Dumfries, DG1 2DD

Internal: 64475 External: 01387 260035 Drop Point: 205

Mail to: [1][email address]

 

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disclosed by the Council under the provisions of Freedom of Information
(Scotland) Act 2002.

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Any email message sent or received by the Council may require to be
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Dear Mr McQueen,

Thank you for your response dated 29 August 2018.

It appears that the failure to address my FOI request has yet to be rectified. The original request dated 23 June 2018, asked for information on the situation where a community council didn't comply with the requirements set down in the document to which a link was supplied. The council's response was restricted to criminal offences and misuse of public monies. A further communication was sent on 1 August asking for the information which was requested previously. Once again, the council failed to address any of the issues and confined the response to criminal matters and misuse of public monies. The communication of 13 August 2018 advised the council of the nature of the specific failures on which information was sought. This was set out on a further occasion in the communication of 27 August 2018. Yet again, the council has failed to provide these details. I can only conclude that this is deliberate obfuscation.

It is a fact that Sanquhar Community Council fails to comply with the requirements set out in this document:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/4...

It was advised that Sanquhar Community Council didn't hold an AGM recently and had to be disbanded as a consequence. Other examples of failures to comply with the requirements have been listed but these are not exclusive, there are more. One of the areas that has been brought to my attention relates to planning permission being given without due process being followed. It is a fact that minutes of meetings are not made available to the public. Then, members of the public are not allowed to speak at meetings and some meetings are held in private. There are criminal offences being committed which will be pursued with Police Scotland but this is felt to be a waste of time given the corrupt influences that exist here.

No complaint has been made to Sanquhar Community Council as this body fails to comply with the regulations, or remedy its failures. It operates in a corrupt manner.

Since the council declines to provide an appropriate response this will be pursued with the Scottish Information Commissioner and elsewhere.

Yours sincerely,

Duncan Gordon