Highland councillor cleared by standards watchdog after accusing the council’s outgoing top officer of lying

A councillor has been cleared over a dispute that ended with him accusing Highland Council’s former chief executive of lying.

Andrew Jarvie was forced to apologise for his remark and ended up quitting the council’s Conservative group in the wake of the row.

It was triggered by an announcement in December 2022 that Avonlea Care Home in Wick was due to imminently close.

Several months earlier, councillor Jarvie and several other Caithness councillors had been told at a meeting with former chief executive Donna Manson that it would not be closing.

At a full council meeting the day after the shock announcement, councillor Jarvie said: “Am I wrong in feeling the chief executive came to Caithness and lied to us?”

Lying accusation was ‘made in good faith’

Accusing someone of lying is not something that is regularly done in national – or even local – politics.

In Westminster, it is considered “unparliamentary language” to accuse someone of lying and almost always results in an expulsion from the House of Commons.

A complaint was raised against councillor Jarvie by Highland Council’s monitoring officer Stewart Fraser.

It was today considered by a panel from the Standards Commission, an independent body responsible for encouraging high standards of behaviour in public life.

The panel found that councillor Jarvie’s comment amounted to a “public attack” on Ms Manson which could have been highly damaging, not only to her but also to the council itself.

It also pointed out that the council’s position could have changed between the assurance given in summer 2022 and Avonlea’s ultimate closure later that year.

However, they ruled that Mr Jarvie was entitled to enhanced protection of freedom of expression as a politician commenting on a matter of public interest.

A statement said: “In this case, the panel accepted that the councillor Jarvie’s accusation that the former chief executive had lied was a value judgement made in good faith.

“In considering it was made in good faith, the panel accepted [he] was motivated by concerns about the closure of the home, rather than a desire to question the then chief executive’s integrity in general.”

Jarvie ready to quit after being cleared

Avonlea opened in Wick in 2014 at a cost of £1.2m.

News of its potential closure was initially publicised in a press release by Highland Council in summer 2022.

But during a meeting with councillors, Ms Manson said the release was a mistake and instead, improvements would be made at the home.

Without any further update, its young residents were relocated and it shut down a week before Christmas 2022 – only eight years after the facility had opened.

During today’s hearing, councillor Jarvie said Highland Council had not been functioning well.

He painted a picture of senior officers being “pushed aside” by Ms Manson on a regular basis.

Speaking after the ruling, councillor Jarvie said “it was the beginning of the end” of his political career.

He intends 2024 to be his last year as a Highland councillor.

“It’s a good time to start to planning my exit,” Mr Jarvie said.

“It’s closure, completion, vindication. And a good place to finish on a high.

“I’ve challenged one of the oldest and longest held practices in British politics that you can’t call someone a liar.

“And all the rules that say you can’t do that are illegal and incompatible with article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

“When someone has lied, they need to be held accountable for that.”

Ms Manson and Highland Council have both been asked to comment on today’s ruling.