A north-east union leader, who represents workers at Aberdeen’s council-run crematorium, has called for greater transparency from the local authority, which he alleged has a “culture of favouritism”.
Unite regional officer Tommy Campbell said he was “shocked” to discover current and former chief executives of the council were excluded from the terms of reference of the inquiry into the baby ashes scandal.
This forms part of a confidential probe by the former chief executive of Bradford City Council, Richard Penn.
An investigation by Dame Elish Angiolini found the bodies of infants were placed alongside unrelated adults and cremated together at the facility.
The initial findings of the external probe were circulated to councillors on Wednesday, who were given 10 minutes to read them before the copies were taken back.
It’s believed the report focuses on the conduct of serving staff and council bosses have claimed the findings can’t be made public due to data protection laws.
At Wednesday’s meeting, several senior civil servants were absent, including Pete Leonard, the director responsible for the crematorium.
The Press and Journal understands a number of council officers are currently being investigated.
And Mr Campbell said: “We were shocked to find out that the current and former chief executives had been excluded from the terms of reference of the inquiry.
“We have repeatedly raised issues about a culture of favouritism within certain sections of the city council, especially in relation to disciplinary matters and procedures.
“It appears that this culture may reach the very top of the council.
“We have written to [ACC chief executive] Angela Scott, urging her to make herself available to answer questions about these serious matters and we have asked her whether councillors knew she was to be excluded from the inquiry.
“We believe that councillors need to intervene to ensure there is a full, open, transparent, investigation into any alleged managerial dysfunction or incompetence at the city council, including the Communities, Housing and Infrastructure department.”
Torry and Ferryhill councillor Graham Dickson called for a “much wider” investigation to be launched.
He added: “I think it’s important the public are kept informed of every element of this scandal and finding out the remit doesn’t include the chief executive is very disappointing.”
