A decision over whether or not to commit £50,000 of Angus Council cash to a 2014 summer showcase of Scotland’s art and culture has moved behind closed doors.
Councillors had been due to consider in open session a report recommending the authority’s five-figure support for the Spirit of Glamis event at the Earl of Strathmore’s Glamis Castle family seat.
With ambitious plans in place for the early July event and £50,000 of EventScotland Homecoming funding pledged, council chief executive Richard Stiff’s report suggested the authority should get on board, provided the word Angus is incorporated into the title of the weekend spectacle.
However, members of the authority’s strategic policy committee expressed surprise when convener Paul Valentine made an early move to switch the report from public to private consideration at the Forfar meeting.
Mr Stiff explained to members that a “number of commercially sensitive considerations” had come to light since the report was produced.
The committee was told that, had the new information been available earlier, it may have resulted in the report being published on ‘green paper’ and taken in private to avoid the disclosure of potentially sensitive commercial information.
Arbroath independent David Fairweather said he was not happy that a report already in the public domain was now being taken off the open agenda.
“We are speaking about £50,000 of council money here and, although I understand where the chief executive is coming from, people are going to ask especially those like myself who have been involved in organising events about this money.
Councillor Alex King commented: “It’s unfortunate that additional information has become available since the writing of the report, which has changed the way we need to address this matter.
“The only alternative would be to defer the matter but I think it would be better if members accepted the advice of the chief executive,” he said.
Montrose councillor David May also secured an assurance that the outcome of the deliberations would be publicised through the press, with each member of the committee being given access to the official council statement before its release.
“There were one or two who I know supported this in principle but some of us had questions about this report and I think it is right we should see what is being said by the council before a press release goes out,” added Mr May.