Aberdeen’s Labour-led council administration is facing a second grilling before standards chiefs – just three weeks before the general election.
The Standards Commission for Scotland wants to resume a hearing over pro-Union letters sent during the independence referendum on April 15, the Press and Journal can disclose.
Several senior members of the ruling coalition – including leader Jenny Laing, finance convener Willie Young and former leader Barney Crockett – are being called to appear.
The inevitable negative publicity could prove damaging to Labour, which is fighting to hold on to the Aberdeen North and Aberdeen South seats at Westminster on May 7.
The hearing would also come at a bad time for Tory councillor Ross Thomson, who is the Conservative party’s candidate for Aberdeen South.
In total, five Labour, one Conservative and one non-aligned member will have to appear to answer the charges of misusing council facilities for political gain.
During the initial hearing in February, Frances Randle, solicitor for the Labour members, said she was strongly opposed to reconvening during the “purdah” period in the six weeks before the general election.
But last night, a bullish Labour group secretary Willie Young said that his members would be available on the date.
Mr Young said: “We have got nothing to hide.
“There was some concern about the general election, but if that’s the date, then we will just have to get on with it.
“We will not be objecting to it.”
A spokeswoman for the Standards Commission said the date was not yet set in stone, but an e-mail sent from the office of the city council’s chief executive said the hearing was scheduled to recommence on April 15.
The hearing in February was adjourned after former chief executive Valerie Watts failed to give evidence. Mrs Watts, who now works in Northern Ireland, was initially due to be questioned via Skype, but later a message was sent to the panel that she would not be available at all.
Panel chairman and convener of the Standards Commission Ian Gordon described Mrs Watt’s behaviour as “extremely disrespectful, bordering on contempt”.
Earlier, the top legal official at the city council told the hearing that she had warned members they could be breaking the law by sending out pro-Union letters with council tax bills prior to the referendum.
The letter, signed by then-leader Mr Crockett, said Aberdeen is “stronger now and will be stronger in the future – economically, politically and socially – as a partner within the United Kingdom”.
The mass mailing, which went out with 110,000 council tax and 6,500 business rate demands in March last year, prompted a string of complaints from members of the public, opposition councillors and local MSPs.
If found guilty of breaching the Councillors Code of Conduct, the politicians could face a suspension from meetings for up to a year or disqualification for as long as five years.
SNP group spokesman Graham Dickson said the situation should be resolved “sooner rather than later”.
He added: “I think it is good for the people of Aberdeen to be able to see a final end to the referendum letter debacle that the council has found itself in. It is disappointing the previous hearing was adjourned and justice could not be served at the time.”