3 May 2017
The Scottish Conservatives have called on the Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government to investigate a Scottish Government announcement of an £8 million investment for Glasgow just two days before the local council election.
Official guidance states that Civil Servants in the Scottish Government should take ‘particular care’ over ‘official support, and the use of public resources, including publicity, for Ministerial or official announcements which could have a bearing on matters relevant to the local elections. In some cases, it might be better to defer an announcement until after the elections’.
It says “particular care” should be taken in the three week period before the elections.
The Scottish Government announced £8.35million of funding for redevelopment in Glasgow – a key SNP target area in the local authority elections – late on Tuesday.
Ross Thomson, the party’s General Election candidate in Aberdeen South, questioned the motives behind the announcement.
He has written to Leslie Evans, Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government, requesting an investigation into the propriety of the timing.
Scottish Conservative candidate for Aberdeen South, Ross Thomson said:
“This looks like a blatant attempt to sway voters in an area that is being targeted by the SNP.
“I have written to the Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government asking for an explanation as to how this could be announced just 48 hours before voters go to the polls.
“People need to have absolute confidence that public money is not being used for party political ends.”
The letter from Ross to the Permanent Secretary can be found here.
Guidance found here.
Nicola Sturgeon has said: ‘In the council elections next May, let’s work as hard as we ever have to bring the SNP to power…Glasgow is a vivid illustration of the success of our party’ (Speech to SNP Conference, 15 October 2016, link).
Susan Aitken, the SNP Group Leader in Glasgow, has also said: ‘We think we are on track to achieve our target of at the least being the biggest party [in Glasgow] and I think we may well have an overall majority within our grasp. Winning in Glasgow would definitely help us ahead of the general election’ (The Scotsman, 30 April 2017, link).
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