A LABOUR politician who quit amid a probe into her son being awarded work by a housing association she sat on the board of is facing a standards complaint, The National can reveal.
Glasgow Labour councillor Elaine McDougall quit the board of Milnbank Housing Association amid an investigation into the circumstances of her son Gary being contracted for work by the organisation, sharing in a £4 million funding framework.
Now The National can reveal she has been reported to the Ethical Standards Commission over the matter.
She was reported by former Glasgow SNP councillor David Turner (below) who said McDougall had “serious questions” to answer.
He added: “She can’t get away with not answering questions.”
The Ethical Standards Commissioner declined to comment but this paper has been shown evidence it received a complaint from Turner highlighting an expose in the Sunday National which revealed the initial investigation into McDougall.
READ MORE: Glasgow Labour councillor quit amid probe over contract for son
The contracts were awarded by Milnbank Housing Association to McDougall’s son Gary’s company in 2017, which was registered at her home address in Dennistoun.
A subsequent investigation found “no evidence” she had declared or managed the conflict of interest.
It also found that the housing association had subsequently changed its rules to allow businesses run by family members of people involved with the organisation to be awarded contracts.
McDougall has previously said she did declare an interest.
McDougall did not respond to requests for comment. Glasgow Labour declined to comment further.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel