Michael Hutchison has been cleared by the standards watchdog over claims he broke rules by “slating” council staff.
The SNP councillor, who represents the George Street and Harbour ward, was reported to the Standards Commission last August.
He had rubbished the £3.8 million restoration work taking place at Provost Skene’s House at the time – apparently leaving staff feeling “distraught”.
Mr Hutchison had said work to the historic town house was “embarrassing” and that the building had been “covered over with mortar”.
He went on to say that people would be “shocked” when they saw it and blamed the administration for having a “complete disregard for our city’s heritage”.
You can see his controversial comments here:Â
What led to Michael Hutchison’s standards hearing?
Appalled political rivals brought forward a motion calling for him to apologise.
They then asked chief executive Angela Scott to report him to the Ethical Standards Commissioner.
Trade union Unite also wrote to the council and said it was “very disappointed” with the comments made by Mr Hutchison.
Committee members believed that he had breached 3.3 of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct.
It states:
“You must respect all Council employees and the role they play, and treat them with courtesy at all times.
It is expected that employees will show the same consideration in return.“
The matter was brought before a hearing at the Town House on Tuesday.
‘A slate on their professional reputation’
Ethical Standards commissioner Ian Bruce said Mr Hutchison’s comments were clearly directed at workers rather than his Tory and Labour opponents.
He said: “Anyone would not consider that any member of the political administration had been engaged in the physical restoration work.
“They would assume employees and contractors would have carried out the work, which was indeed the case.
“Therefore the criticism would be taken to extend to the employees.
“It is my view that the criticism is directed at those who instructed the work to be carried out the way that it was, and those who oversaw it.
“The employees concerned will have viewed this as a slate on their professional reputation.”
However he did note that the comments were “somewhat mitigated” as no council employees or construction workers could be directly identified.
‘He was doing what he was elected to do’
A representative for councillor Hutchison spoke at the hearing in defence of his comments, made in an interview with the Press and Journal.
He said: “The commissioner said that the comments were politically motivated. Yes they were, they were directed at the administration of the council.
“He was at the time an opposition councillor and that’s kind of his political job.
“Democracy demands that he put the administration of the council under scrutiny.
“All he was doing was what he was elected to do, and democracy demands that he does.”
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What did the standards panel say to Michael Hutchison?
The Standards Commission panel agreed to clear Mr Hutchison of breaching the Code.
The panel believed that councillor Hutchison’s comments “referred to the methods used in the restoration, rather than the performance, conduct or capability of employees undertaking the work”.
Scroll back and forth to see how Provost Skene’s House was restored:
They said that the comments concerned the decisions taken by the administration in respect of how the city’s historical buildings should be restored.
They also said they were “satisfied” that he had not raised any issue with the “conduct or capability” of any employee in public.
Standards Commission member and chair of the hearing panel, Michael McCormick, said: “The panel noted that it was important to draw a distinction between a councillor scrutinising the decisions of an administration and a councillor embarking on a public criticism of the capability of individual and identifiable council employees.”
You can watch the hearing here.
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