Aberdeen councillors to call for resignation of Derek Mackay after FFA report on city deal is tabled Aberdeen City councillors are expected to call for the resignation of Derek Mackay following the publication of the findings of an inquiry into the council’s relationship with an events company. The inquiry was established by Mackay following questions around a council deal to bring a rugby tournament to the north-east in 2015, which was awarded by the tourism body VisitScotland. Scrutiny committee convener Lewis Winter said the evidence produced to the report would form part of a motion which will be tabled by the Labour group, with the expectation it will be passed at next week’s meeting. “There are serious questions to be asked of a small group who have led the council for years,” he said. “The majority of councillors who were returned at the election are committed to transparency and accountability in governance. “The last 18 months has been difficult for the council, but it has shown the people of the north-east that it stands up for them and will be willing to tackle the vested interests of those who can afford to influence councillors.” The inquiry, which was launched in April by Lord Stewart Hosie, head of the Scottish Conservatives, looked at a number of areas, including the council’s role in the selection of Scotland’s bid to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup and land deals around the event. The councillors were also asked to determine if the council had made any donations to the local Labour Party, to establish whether grants made under its ‘Rising Grads’ scheme were given to candidates of any political party and to consider whether Derek Mackay or any member of his council staff was involved in the arrangement. When the investigation was launched in April, the SNP MSP said: “Inquiries into alleged activities by the SNP administration at Aberdeen City Council need to be as public as possible. “If investigations reveal wrongdoing then action needs to be taken, not covered up by the SNP administration. “I am now considering how this investigation and its findings can be published and made publicly available.” SNP group leader Douglas Lumsden said: “This report will show a complete failure of governance at the council. “In 2014, the SNP group was one of the first to call for an independent inquiry into the controversial council funding deal with VisitScotland. “I am now hopeful that the report will outline the financial relationship between VisitScotland and the SNP Group in 2015, given that this deal was awarded in April 2015, the same month as our election campaign and just days after the SNP won control of the council. “We were elected on a clear manifesto pledge that we would hold council business and its accounts in the public eye and we remain completely committed to that.” The council’s chief executive John Brown said: “A full and frank public hearing on these issues would be of vital interest to the citizens of Aberdeen and surrounding areas, as well as to the Scottish public at large. “I am hopeful that the council’s report will contribute to the fullest extent to the public’s understanding of this case and its contents will be published by the chief executive.” The council group is set to elect new members to represent the people of Aberdeen in May 2017. The election campaign process will be open to all candidates from any party who are standing for the group, and those already elected will serve as ordinary members for the duration of their term. Candidates must be over 18 years of age and be a resident in the city for a minimum of 12 months before they can stand for election. Related links Comments & Moderation Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments. Our Colleagues Ipsoregulated This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standards Organisation's Editors' Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about the editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then please contact the editor here. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can contact IPSO here