Aberdeen city council’s finance chief has been given a formal warning by watchdogs after he breached the councillor’s code of conduct.
Finance convener Willie Young referred himself to the Standards Commission for Scotland after he accidentally leaked confidential legal advice related to the controversial Marischal Square project.
Mr Young was hauled before a hearing yesterday after he mistakenly sent a private e-mail to Fraser Garrow, an opponent of the £107million scheme.
The senior councillor had intended to send the information to his former administration colleague, Fraser Forsyth.
Mr Young was represented at the hearing at the city’s Town House by Roddy Dunlop QC, who successfully defended Alistair Carmichael in his controversial leaked memo court case last year.
The panel heard that Mr Young had already admitted to contravening paragraph 3.14 of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct on confidentiality requirements.
Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland, Bill Thomson, said: “My investigation was prompted by a referral made by councillor Young and the subsequent complaint made by Mr Garrow.
“The self referral and the complaint by Mr Garrow concerned a failure by councillor Young to properly observe the requirements of the confidentiality set out in paragraph 3.14 of the councillors code of conduct.
“The circumstances are relatively straightforward and are not in dispute.”
After a short hearing, the panel found Mr Young’s blunder amounted to a breach of the code.
Mr Dunlop argued that Mr Young’s breach had been “inadvertent” and therefore he should not face suspension or disqualification.
The solicitor pointed to his client’s “unblemished record” and said the only appropriate action for the panel to take would be to censure Mr Young.
He added: “To consider suspension or disqualification would be wholly inappropriate.”
After retiring for 45 minutes to consider an appropriate sanction, the panel decided to censure Mr Young, which amounts to a formal reprimand on his record.
The panel’s chairwoman, Julie Ward, said it had taken into account Mr Young’s good record as a councillor and his “significant contribution to public life”.
She added: “The panel would remind all councillors of the importance of due care and consideration in handling information that is of a confidential nature.”
Last night, Mr Young said he was “disappointed” the panel had found him in breach of the code, but said he was “relieved” the case had come to an end.
He added: “This was a self-referral as we heard from the panel, and as we also heard in their findings, it was inadvertent.
“The panel also acknowledged that I immediately self-referred, and these are all things you should do if you’re working with the code.
“Thirdly, they noted my record – perhaps the fact they determined these three things tells its own story.”