A TORY council leader has been recorded appearing to promise multi-million pound contracts to “pals”.
The Sunday Mail revealed that South Ayrshire’s Tory leader Martin Dowey was caught on tape calling officers at his local authority “f****** useless” and boasted: “All the top ones I can sack.”
Dowey, 56, also reportedly promised to help “pals” win multi-million pound demolition contracts.
He is believed to have told a businessman he could help him win a deal to demolish the fire-damaged Station Hotel in Ayr.
The recording is of a meeting at the council’s offices in 2023.
Dowey, husband of Tory MSP Sharon Dowey, denied any wrongdoing and claimed he informed police of the incident himself in 2023.
Officers confirmed they are assessing correspondence relating to the meeting.
Dowey, a former police officer, was recorded saying: “You will be told the quotes are coming out. You put in your price, we will give you a guestimate of what is happening.
“If you are in the last three you will get the quote. You will get it. That’s easy, that’s not a problem.
“The problem arises if you are not in the final three, I can’t do anything about that, so it’s up to us getting a proper price from you.”
“If you are in the final three we decide who we pick but if you are not in the final three I can’t say ‘wait a minute, my pals aren’t on it’ or whatever, you canny say that,” he added.
“Nobody else can do it, we have had companies out before you arrived on the scene, they don’t know how to do it, they are struggling, you put it in, you put your bid in,” Dowey reportedly said.
“Don’t email Mike, put your bid in as normal and you will get the contract.”
The conversation then moved to a council building programme where Dowey told the businessman bids had been just over £12.6 million, suggesting a more competitive price would be around £10m.
“Officers have been hammered so much by getting shafted they are so wary they don’t want to do anything,” Dowey said.
“Half of this is my problem because I’m f****** shouting and bawling and telling them they are f****** useless and all that ... All the top ones I can sack.”
Towards the end of the meeting, Dowey states they have a “beautiful future coming”.
The councillor previously worked as a police officer in Ayrshire for 25 years.
In response, Dowey told the newspaper: “I’m a former police officer. I know the law and I respect it at all times.
“I reported the approach from this individual to the police and the local authority myself long ago because I suspected something was not right with their approach.
“I did not help this company to win any contract. They have not received any money from South Ayrshire Council.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We are in receipt of correspondence and it is currently being assessed.”
A spokesperson for the local authority added: “We note that this matter is with Police Scotland, and it would not be appropriate to comment further at this stage.”
