EXCLUSIVE: Dundee council chiefs rapped by watchdog for ‘deliberately evasive' response to £6m Olympia repairs scrutiny

The Courier

7 days ago

Dundee City Council chiefs have been rapped by a watchdog for 'deliberately misconstruing' a request to reveal details of repair works at the Olympia.
The leisure centre shut for more than two years in October 2021 after a series of issues were found in the swimming pools.
The local authority commissioned £6.1 million worth of work to be carried out over more than two years.
No detailed breakdown of that contract has been revealed, so The Courier submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the council in April 2024 asking for that information.
FOI legislation allows journalists and members of the public to ask for certain information held by public authorities.
As we previously reported, in response to our request, chief executive Greg Colgan provided a different list of smaller work carried out instead of details of the major work – because he claimed the pools were 'refurbished', and not 'repaired' as The Courier had described it.
Now, the Scottish Information Commissioner – the watchdog responsible for enforcing FOI legislation – has upheld an appeal by The Courier over the council's handling of the request after a 13-month saga.
Jennifer Ross, deputy head of enforcement, found the council had been deliberately evasive in its handling of the request.
Ms Ross pointed out that many stories and reports about the Olympia had contained the word 'repairs' and the council should have known exactly what was being asked for.
She said: 'The commissioner is puzzled by the authority's approach to this request.
'It appears to be deliberately misconstruing the description of works which, to the lay person, might clearly be described as repairs and/or maintenance works.
'Indeed, the words 'repair' and/or 'maintenance' themselves feature in the (council) committee reports presented to the commissioner as well as others on the same subject.
'The commissioner considers that in cases where the terminology used by a public authority differs from that used by a member of the public, it should ensure that its interpretation of the request is based on a plain English reading of the request, and if there is any doubt, it should seek clarification of the request.'
Ms Ross also said the context of the request should have been clear to the council, given it was made shortly after the centre had fully reopened.
The decision added: 'Overall, the commissioner is not satisfied that the authority has interpreted the request reasonably.'
The local authority was ordered to reconsider its response to The Courier, which it has now done as part of a separate request.
However, the details of the £6.1m contract are still a mystery as the local authority now says it considers the information to be commercially sensitive.
A response sent to The Courier by Dundee City Council said: 'A further breakdown for the £6.1m costs is not provided to ensure that commercial confidentiality is maintained on behalf of the main contractor, sub-contractors and the suppliers involved with this project.
'Financially sensitive construction information of this nature being released in the public domain creates a risk and could compromise the supply chains' commercial strategy when pricing future works by providing their competitors with an advantage.
'Additionally, this could also have detrimental consequences for the council when tendering future workload and while looking to ensure best practice and maintaining a robust ethical and commercially competitive approach to tendering and contractual process.'
David Clegg, editor of The Courier, said: 'We pursued this case on principle, and while our readers still don't have the full picture, I welcome the commissioner's condemnation of the council's deliberate obstruction.
'Public bodies must never be allowed to evade scrutiny in this way.
'The Courier has a proud record of holding power to account, and this episode only strengthens our resolve to interrogate every decision and follow every penny spent in our readers' name.'
The Courier previously investigated a lack of transparency surrounding the Olympia crisis.
A second prolonged closure of the centre, just weeks after the £6.1m repairs had been completed, will be the subject of an independent inquiry.