An Aberdeenshire councillor has been cleared of any wrongdoing for conducting an interview in council chambers.
Martin Ford appeared in a TV documentary looking into Donald Trump’s controversial golf development at Menie, near Balmedie, last year.
Mr Ford, who was ousted as chairman of Aberdeenshire Council’s powerful infrastructure services committee after trying to block the plan in 2007, was immediately asked to attend a meeting with council bosses about holding the interview in council chambers at Woodhill House in Aberdeen.
Chief executive Colin Mackenzie said at the time that, out of courtesy, Mr Ford should have let him know about the interview and its location.
The East Garioch councillor said that he had “no doubt” he had not done anything wrong as he was talking about official council business but referred himself to the public standards commissioner so the matter could be investigated independently. Now commissioner Stuart Allan has ruled he did not breach the councillors’ code of conduct by using chambers for the interview – but suggested Mr Mackenzie had a “right and duty” to be aware of the interview, and that as such he should develop a system where all councillors notify him of their plans to speak to the media on council premises. He states: “Such a protocol could include appropriate safeguards for councillors and such an arran-gement could, I believe, be put in place without suspicion that it would be inappropriately applied.”
Last night Mr Ford said: “Councillors have a duty to be open about what they do and answer journalists’ questions. It is an essential part of the democratic process. The judgment reflects and acknowledges that.
“I was clear that the interview was not remotely close to being a breach of the code of conduct.”