Council 'inadequacies' found in handling of leader complaint

There were "inadequacies" in the way City of Edinburgh Council handled a complaint made against former leader Cammy Day, an independent investigation has concluded.

Councillor Day became leader of the council in 2022 but stepped down in December 2024 after allegations he had sent inappropriate messages to Ukrainian refugees.

In April, a police investigation concluded that there was "no evidence of criminality."

An independent review found that the complaint was handled well but found "inadequacies" in the way a previous complaint was dealt with.

Edinburgh council tasked the former Information Commissioner Kevin Dunion with reviewing how complaints made against Day were handled.

His newly-published report found no evidence of a potential complaint made in 2006 - before Day was a councillor.

But he concluded there were inadequacies with the way the then-council leader, Adam Nols-McVey, handled a complaint in 2018 when Day was the deputy leader of the council.

The seriousness of an allegation that a "senior Labour councillor" had "groomed" a 15-year-old boy meant Nols-McVey should have shared it with the council's chief executive and senior monitoring official, the report said.

Emails relating to the complaint were lost, with police advising Nols-McVey in 2018 that the fact the complaint was anonymous meant it couldn't be taken any further.

Mr Dunion said the loss of related emails was an "unintended and unexpected consequence" of the information not being shared.

More broadly, the report says the council still lacks sufficient safeguards to prevent this type alleged behaviour in future.

The report concluded that recent complaints about Councillor Day's alleged behaviour towards Ukrainian refugees in 2023 were handled properly and in line with the council's policies.

He said, overall, complaints were for the most part handled properly and that the policies and procedures in place are broadly effective.

Councillor Day denies all the claims that have been made against him, telling a newspaper he is the victim of a co-ordinated political attack.

In April, Police Scotland said that no criminality had been established during its investigation into Cammy Day that focused on the 2023 allegations.

Councillor Adam Nols-McVey: "The report acknowledges that my office dealt with a complaint in 2018 in a sensitive manner, prioritising the protection of the complainant while raising it with the police, senior council officers and most importantly, giving the individual concerned advice and directing them to available.

"The response from police now is unfortunately the same as it was in 2018. Unless alleged victims choose to make an official complaint and go through the process, there are restrictions on what action authorities can take.

"Kevin Dunion's report acknowledges the significant barrier this is for many and I hope Council can find a way to reduce that barrier for those affected."

The report also raised concerns about "egregious" leaking of information for political motives and alcohol-fuelled behaviour at social functions in the City Chambers.

Councillors will consider the report next Thursday.