Hoping mud will stick...

I see that my old foe Lib Dem Leader Alan Blair was at it again in the Greenock Telegraph today.

Alan has used the same tactics for years: throw mud at the Council and hope that some of it sticks to your political opponents.

This time he was questioning why so many of the reports on the agenda of today's Policy and Resources Committee were to be taken in private.

In the first instance the meeting was actually a special meeting scheduled so that members could be updated on a number of issues that had arisen during the summer recess. It was sheer coincidence that many of these issues were of a sensitive nature, dealing with contractual and employment matters. Normally most of the items on an agenda for a Policy & Resources Committee are held in public.

The decision to put reports in the private part of a Committee agenda is taken by the Council's Head of Legal and Democratic Services, Elaine Paterson, and not by the Committee Convener. Ms Paterson has been advising the Council on these matters for a good number of years and has provided the same advice irrespective of which party is in control.

At the start of today's meeting Councillor Blair was given the opportunity to question Ms Paterson on why so many reports were being taken in private. Ms Paterson explained that the reports contained information that was either commercially sensitive or dealt with employment matters affecting specific individuals or groups of employees. This explanation was accepted by the members of the Committee, with the sole exception of Councillor Blair.

I am sure however that if Councillor Blair had still been the Leader of the Council the agenda for today's meeting would have been the same.

It is of course the nature of game that politicians tend to say and do one thing when in power and another in opposition.