A SENIOR Scottish Labour councillor is facing a standards hearing over an allegation he broke confidentiality rules.
George Redmond, the former leader of the Glasgow Labour group, is accused of breaching the councillors’ code of conduct and has been referred to the Standards Commission for Scotland.
It is believed the complaint relates to the sharing of information on the appointment of a new council chief executive last year.
Susanne Millar was picked to replace Annemarie O’Donnell by the council’s appointment of senior officers committee, which included Redmond, in March 2024.
The Calton councillor, who stepped down as Labour group leader in May, is expected to appear at a hearing on Thursday, November 20.
The Standards Commission said the complaint relates to an “alleged breach of confidentiality provisions of the councillors’ code of conduct”.
Glasgow Greens co-leader Jon Molyneux said: “I can confirm that I submitted a standards complaint on April 12, 2024, relating to what I considered to be a very serious breach of the confidentiality provisions in the councillors’ code of conduct.
“I will not make any further comment on this matter as a hearing is now due to take place.”
On confidentiality, the code states councillors should not “disclose confidential information or information which should reasonably be regarded as being of a confidential or private nature, without the express consent of a person or body authorised to give such consent, or unless required to do so by law”.
It adds confidential information can include “discussions, documents, information which is not yet public or never intended to be public, and information deemed confidential by statute”.
The code also states confidential information should not be used “in any way for personal or party-political advantage or to discredit my council (even if my personal view is that the information should be publicly available)”.
Complaints against elected members are investigated by the Ethical Standards Commissioner Ian Bruce, who reports to the Standards Commission.
The Commission then decides whether to hold a hearing to determine whether the code has been contravened.
When a breach of the code is found, the Commission will then decide on a sanction. These include censure, suspension and disqualification.
The Commissioner will present evidence at the hearing and councillors are entitled to attend or be represented. They can also present evidence and both parties can call witnesses.
Redmond said he wouldn’t be commenting on the case at this time.
