Aberdeen City Council’s embattled chief executive has vowed to implement a “culture change” in the wake of the baby ashes scandal.
But Angela Scott has maintained that an external probe into the conduct of serving staff must be kept confidential.
Council leaders have published a report into the steps the local authority has and will take to ensure that ashes are never handled in the same “unethical and abhorrent” way they previously were at Hazlehead Crematorium.
Dame Elish Angiolini’s report into National Cremation Investigation discovered that, in certain cases, the bodies of infants were placed alongside an unrelated adult and cremated together.
Councillors will meet today to discuss ACC’s own report which sets out more than 10 recommendations.
These include encouraging whistle-blowing in the service and the creation of a permanent memorial to the victims.
But yesterday, it emerged the initial findings of an external investigation into current staff by the former chief executive of Bradford City Council, Richard Penn, will only be shared with elected members.
Ms Scott confirmed it was being kept under wraps because of data protection rules.
She said: “At the meeting on Wednesday, I will share with members the initial findings of a review of how operational and strategic responsibility had been managed at the crematorium.
“The review is part of an ongoing process which has not as yet reached a conclusion, and, of necessity, the detail set out in the initial findings will be shared with the members on a confidential basis.
“The findings are currently under active consideration and any unauthorised disclosure would potentially breach fair employment practice under employment legislation and the Data Protection Act.
“Since 2014, I have been implementing a culture change programme that places the customer at the heart of how we deliver vital public services.
“We will change our recruitment processes and review all of our HR policies to ensure this is placed at the very centre of what we do.”
Paul Wells never received his son’s ashes in 2006 and has called for the Penn findings to be released “as soon as possible”.
SNP group leader Stephen Flynn added: “The council are treating (the report) as confidential for a number of reasons, but the situation still remains that the public will want to see accountability for the mistakes that have been made.”
