John Stevens · @pzj_1
20th May 2015 from TwitLonger
Shocking contradictions from East Dunbartonshire Council
Please open up and read this article Kirkintilloch Herald from 2010. http://www.kirkintilloch-herald.co.uk/news/local-headlines/how-much-did-celtic-pay-for-training-paradise-1-362594
This article came about because the local residents at Lennoxtown were promised great economic benefits from the Celtic PLC move to their area.
Listen to one resident '"It opened in a blaze of glory with promises of re-investment and jobs, but I've yet to see any evidence of that. I don't see how Celtic's complex has financially benefited the area or the regeneration of Lennoxtown."
As part of this great heralded move, Celtic PLC offered to the local public a Service Level Agreement. This agreement according to Brian McAleenan, chief executive of the Lennoxtown Initiative was valued at a whopping £841,860 over a nine-year period.
Now how Celtic PLC delivered that service the Football Tax Havens has already asked serious questions. https://footballtaxhavens.wordpress.com/2014/07/23/what-services-did-edc-get-from-the-celtic-sla-especially-in-first-2-years-when-payments-to-celtic-were-highest/
Now what I want to highlight in this short post, is the shocking contradictions which have emanated from a public body and a public servant.
Please note carefully the words of Brian McAleenan, chief executive of the Lennoxtown Initiative in defence of the Celtic Service agreement in 2010 when at that point locals were demanding answers.
He told the Herald 'that a service level agreement between Celtic and Lennoxtown Initiative had been independently assessed by East Dunbartonshire Council as being worth 841,860 over a nine-year period'.
It is the words independently assessed by East Dunbartonshire Council that I want to draw to everyone's attention.
Fast forward four short years. As the service level agreement was being questioned by the FTH, some concerned citizens of East Dunbartonshire wrote to the then sitting MP, which was Jo Swinson.
They asked could she obtain a copy of the agreement that anyone held concerning the Celtic Service Level Agreement. Here is that reply in full http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sl4nsf?new_post=true
Now the person identified as answering Ms Swinson, is Mr Thomas Glen. Now look carefully at his reply. 'Mr Glen confirms that East Dunbartonshire Council does not have a Service Level Agreement with Celtic Football Club. Along with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, the Council was one of the partner bodies in the establishment of the Lennoxtown Initiative, which entered into a service level agreement with Celtic. He is therefore unable to provide details of it, as it was an agreement between two organisations which the Council was not party to'.
Mr Thomas Glen confirmed that the EDC had no details of the Celtic SLA. Yet four short years previous, Brian McAleenan, chief executive of the Lennoxtown Initiative claimed that EDC had independently assessed this agreement. Was he deliberately misleading? Was this a shocking case of deliberately and knowingly misleading the public in the face of public criticism about just what was going on at Lennoxtown?
Please note this was quoted in a media outlet by a man who is a public servant and who at all times must be acting in the interests of the public he serves.
Who was telling the truth? Was it Brian McAleenan or was it Thomas Glen who stated that EDC had no record of any agreement that Brian McAleenan claimed was independently assessed by East Dunbartonshire Council?
Now the most bizarre thing in this whole sordid episode comes in Mr Thomas Glen's reply to Jo Swinson. To be very clear he was asked if he had any records or knowledge about the service level agreement with Celtic PLC which was for a large amount of public funds, nearly one million pounds. Mr Glen in his capacity as Director of Development & Regeneration at East Dunbartonshire Council replied he had none.
In fact he states, like the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde that EDC had no records. But what he failed to declare to Jo Swinson was that he was a Director in the Lennoxtown Initiative. https://www.companiesintheuk.co.uk/director/2090501/thomas-glen
As I stated, Thomas Glen was asked for information surrounding the service level agreement that Brian McAleenan claimed was independently assessed by East Dunbartonshire Council, and yet as a Director of the Lennoxtown Initiative failed to provide.
Are we saying that he did not know about it? Did he as a Director in the Lennoxtown Initiative have no insight into the structure and details of this agreement? Had he no knowledge of it?
And yet on the third of May, Mr Glen is quoted in the Sunday Post as knowing the full amounts that were paid to Celtic PLC by the EDC for September, 2013. http://www.sundaypost.com/news-views/scotland/probe-into-celtic-s-8m-training-ground-1.871622
This payment was in fact underwritten by both the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and EDC after the Lennoxtown Initiative had run out of funds.
So there you have it. Despite the EDC having no records of this agreement, despite the claim by Brian McAleenan, chief executive of the Lennoxtown Initiative that it had been independently assessed by EDC, they paid out £68,377.20 in September 13 to Celtic PLC without knowing one thing about the contents of this agreement or what was to be delivered.
This is shocking case of irresponsibility in public office by public servants, tasked to ensure that public funds are spent wisely and in the interests of the public to whom these public figures have ultimate responsibility to.
And yet in one case, Brian McAleenan, chief executive of the Lennoxtown Initiative can claim the Celic PLC service level agreement was independently assessed by East Dunbartonshire Council and Thomas Glen can claim He is unable to provide details of it, as it was an agreement between two organisations which the Council was not party to, and yet he was able to tell the Sunday Post the figure paid to Celtic PLC in September 13.
Which hat had Thomas Glen on when replying to Jo Swinson? Was it Director of Development & Regeneration at East Dunbartonshire Council or was it Director of the Lennoxtown Initiative?