Edinburgh council's Sean Bell scandal: 'Much still to do' to improve council culture say Tories

The Tanner report into council culture shows there is “still a huge amount to do”, according to Tory group leader Iain Whyte.

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He said: “If the SNP-led administration take this as some kind of endorsement they will be kidding themselves and the public.

"That clearly isn’t the case when there are 50 detailed recommendations for improvement and some really difficult issues are exposed – not least in showing that actions recommended as a result of investigations are actually followed through.

Tory group leader Iain Whyte says there is still much to do

“As usual with this council, it isn’t the intentions but the failure to deliver in practice that is the problem. The survey of staff undertaken as part of the process shows the measures taken since 2014 have yet to create the necessary confidence that people need to come forward or that issues will be properly addressed if they do.

"We keep being told that the independent whistleblowing system should give us assurance but seven years since it was put in place it seems there really is still a huge amount to do. The current people in charge have been there throughout that time and you really have to question whether they have the ability to drive through the necessary changes.”

Council leader Adam McVey said he was grateful to the independent review team for outlining points that needed further work.

"We owe it to our colleagues and to the public to continue to drive improvements and make sure the culture of the council is the best it possibly can be.

“The report highlights the significant progress and improvements made to the Council’s whistleblowing culture in recent years and this should give all of us encouragement that further improvement can be achieved.

"It will take a lot of work to implement these independent, robust and constructive recommendations, but I’m confident these will be adopted in full by councillors and delivered by the chief executive and wider management team.”

Depute Leader Cllr Cammy Day said it had been crucial that staff, both past and present, and others with a connection to the council had felt empowered to come forward and share their views.

“We will now carefully consider the findings and recommendations and agree an action plan for how best to take these forward.”

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