Letters Page

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Addressingcouncil woes

SIR, – It looks unlikely that the suggestion of P. Macari (Letters, May 1) that Aberdeen City Council’s administration should “fall on their collective sword" will be heeded.

However, in view of the recent revelations at the council, and not forgetting the blind eye turned by council management to the recent leisure department scandals, the write-off of £2.5million of unpaid parking fines and lack of vision and nous to move the city forward in any purposeful direction, is it not time for the Scottish Government to put them out of their misery, suspend senior management, instal a competent team of administrators and schedule new council elections for the autumn?

This would enable the government investigation to report its findings and recommendations, encourage the many “whistleblowers" out there to inform with some confidence that something will be done, and give the many able people who now feel they need to stand for the council time to prepare and consider their next moves.

Allan Sutherland,

1 Willow Row, Stonehaven.

‘Stop passingthe buck’

SIR, – Thank you for your well-written coverage of the crisis within Aberdeen City Council. I would like to say, however, that enough is enough. It is time the Lib Dems and the SNP stopped passing the buck when it comes to the mess that the council is now in. They must shoulder responsibility for what happened under their watch. It is laughable to suggest that because Labour rightly focused on education and social work – on the education of our city’s children and on those in need – that Labour is to blame.

I believe that the SNP/Lib Dem administration pointing to investment in education is a mistake because, yes, they were Labour’s priorities and are not something Labour should apologise for.

Our concern is that it suits the SNP and the Lib Dems to muddy the water sufficiently over the property scandal to suggest that there is a systemic historical problem with the council, rather than the real issue regarding council cuts now, which are the result of meeting the SNP’s council tax freeze.

The Audit Commission will be the biggest show in town and its verdict is awaited eagerly by the citizens of Aberdeen.

Len Ironside,

leader, Labour group,

Aberdeen City Council,

Town House,

Broad Street, Aberdeen.

Selling for the best price possible

SIR, – In life, your house is one of the main assets which you hope to benefit from when you sell it and you hope to gain the best price possible.

Therefore, why did Aberdeen City Council not put the property in its possession up for sale in the usual manner – advertise, wait for the bids to come in through a well-established law firm and sell to the highest bidder?

They could, of course, auction property and land, which is open to scrutiny. However, whatever road the council wishes to go down to sell assets which belong to the public, it will have to be totally transparent for all the citizens to scrutinise at length.

James Murray,

250 George Street,

Aberdeen.

Measuring competence

SIR, – With all the recent press negativity for Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire councils, one would have to ask the question: how does the public sector measure the competencies or lack of them of elected and appointed leaders?

It would appear that elected council leaders in the city and shire have grossly underperformed and if employed in the private sector they would have been summarily dismissed some time ago without any additional salary payment or pension entitlement as a farewell gift, courtesy of the local taxpayer.

Only this week, we have the very public exposure of the charitable manner in which the chief executive of Aberdeen City Council has allowed public property to be sold off on almost a Bogof (buy one get one free) basis. He remains in post, not willing to fall on his sword.

Maybe city council leader Kate Dean, bearing in mind that the buck stops with her, will inform the public of how many staff have been censured or sacked for gross incompetence over this fiasco, or will they continue to remain in position until retirement, hoping that the furore can be swept under the carpet and forgotten about until the next calamity?

Eric Simpson,

6 Townhead Gardens,

Inverurie.

Contribution of GPs

SIR, – Your report (April 30) on the falling number of coronary heart disease deaths heralds a positive step towards improving Scotland’s reputation for ill health.

Experts have said that the reduction in fatal heart disease is down to people making positive lifestyle choices, such as giving up smoking or taking regular exercise.

What your report fails to recognise is the contribution of the thousands of GPs, working at the heart of every local community in Scotland, towards tackling one of Scotland’s biggest killers.

The quality framework of the new contract focuses on disease management and prevention and plays a considerable part in reducing the number of significant or life-threatening events for patients suffering from coronary heart disease.

BMA Scotland has estimated that by lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels and controlling hypertension, more than 1,000 cardiovascular events can be prevented within a five-year period.

I am therefore disappointed that the contribution of general practice in achieving this health improvement has not been recognised by the government.

It is clear, however, that there is still some way to go to improve outcomes for patients in poorer communities. In these areas, there are not enough GPs. A targeted approach must begin by training and recruiting more GPs to work in these hard-to-reach communities.

Dr Dean Marshall,

chairman,

BMA Scottish general practitioners committee,

14 Queen Street,

Edinburgh.