Mark Macaskill
SCOTTISH ministers have been urged to scrap a rule allowing councillors to
hold “secret” shares worth up to £25,000.
John Hutchison, chairman of the John Muir Trust (JMT), a conservation
charity fighting the construction of wind farms in remote parts of
Scotland, said councillors who are members of the JMT had been advised to
absent themselves from planning decisions on wind farms because of a
potential conflict of interest.
Yet under existing rules, councillors can hold tens of thousands of pounds
in shares with a company and not have to declare it.
“These are surely double standards,” Hutchison said. “It seems astonishing
that a councillor could have £24,000 of shares in a company applying for
planning permission and that is not considered significant enough to
register an interest.
“The limit for declaring shares should be drastically reduced, perhaps to
something nearer £1,000.”
Under a 2009 code of conduct, the disclosure of shares is only necessary if
their value is greater than £25,000 or more than 1% of the issued share
capital of the company. There is nothing to suggest any councillor in
Scotland has been unduly influenced by his or her share dealings but there
is concern that a lack of transparency undermines public confidence in
planning decisions.
The issue will be raised this week with Steve Barron, chief executive of
Highland council, where there has been strong public opposition to wind
farms. “Any councillor holding shares of any value at all should declare an
interest and leave the chamber,” said Jim Crawford, an independent
councillor for Inverness South. “The present ruling is iniquitous and could
bring the planning process into disrepute. This must be changed by the
Standards Commission immediately.
“With the Scottish government’s continued desecration of our natural
heritage, any councillor holding shares in a wind farm which he or she does
not have to declare could be tempted to vote with personal gain in mind.”
Hutchison’s remarks follow a decision by Scottish ministers to approve a
67-turbine wind farm near Fort Augustus. Highland council, which first
scrutinised the Stronelairg application from Scottish and Southern Energy,
did not object to the proposal.
Last week, the local authority confirmed that of 14 large wind farms
ultimately signed off by the Scottish government since 2004, it had
objected to only one.
The JMT is considering legal action over Stronelairg and has written to
Fergus Ewing, the minister for energy, deploring the decision. It said the
development should have been assessed by a public local inquiry.
A spokeswoman for the Scottish government said the code “reflects the
outcome” of a public consultation and review carried out by the Standards
Commission and representatives of Scottish local government.
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