A SCOTTISH Tory councillor who leaked confidential emails to a Facebook group has been found guilty of breaching the code of conduct.
The Standards Commission for Scotland found Conservative Councillor James Adams breached four sections of the Code over the disclosure of an unredacted chain of internal emails.
They concerned risks posed by combustible waste days before the Victoria Buildings in Kilmarnock’s King Street were destroyed by fire.
The emails, which were passed on to one of the people behind the "East Ayrshire Cooncil" Facebook page, contained details of council officers and included discussions about the council’s legal obligations, service delivery and enforcement, as well as reference to legal advice.
Adams accepted sending the correspondence but claimed he had not understood that the information, other than the personal details it contained, should be treated as confidential.
He said he shared the emails while abroad after becoming angry at online criticism suggesting councillors had failed to act. He denied that he had complained about officers, despite the emails sparking a barrage of public criticism of the council.
But the Standards Commission panel said the emails were "inherently confidential" and concluded that Adams disclosed it "at least in part, for personal or political advantage" as he sought to rebut criticism of his own record.
They said that the breach was "serious in nature" and expressed concern that Adams had shown "only limited insight" into the importance of following the code and council policies.
The panel added that while newly elected councillors were given a large amount of information which could be overwhelming, Adams had been in office for more than four years and had not taken steps to ensure he understood his duties.
Adams, who represents Kilmarnock West and Crosshouse, told the hearing he had been active in raising concerns about combustible waste and fire risks before the blaze, including contacting the council 36 hours beforehand.
He was in Canada when the fire occurred and said he became angry after learning he and other councillors were receiving what he described as "a bit of a pounding" online over alleged inaction.
He said: “I wanted to let them know that actually, far from doing nothing, I had been very active.”
The circumstances in which the email chain moved between his council and personal accounts were closely questioned.
Adams explained that one reason for using his personal email was down to council IT restrictions that meant he could not copy and paste from emails and could not access Facebook from his council laptop.
He said when the council sent him information it wanted posted on social media, his only means of copying it was to forward it to his personal account.
He told the panel: “It wouldn’t be unusual for me to send an email and copy myself to my personal account.”
Adams also said he had asked for his council phone to be configured before travelling to Canada and the USA so he could continue dealing with constituents, but was unable to access his council emails abroad.
However, questioning established that the email chain was already accessible from his personal account while he was in Canada.
Panel member Lezley Stewart asked: “So you had the email [chain] in your personal account to be able to be accessed in Canada, which is why you sent it then from your personal email account?”
The hearing did not establish precisely when this particular chain was originally transferred to his personal account or the specific reason for doing so.
It was also revealed Cllr Adams had given another explanation during the Ethical Standards Commissioner’s investigation, saying he routinely forwarded some correspondence because he considered it personal in nature and was uncomfortable with council officers having access to it.
The panel said his reasons did not alter the fact East Ayrshire Council policy clearly identified forwarding council emails to personal accounts as unacceptable use of its communications systems.
It said Adams had a responsibility "as he would in any other job" to familiarise himself with the policy.
