Opposition members on Dundee City Council insist the public have a right to know why they have been forced to shell out £6m on repairs to the Olympia Leisure Centre.
Labour group leader, Councillor Kevin Keenan said “the people really need to know” and that “there’s got to be some level of shared responsibility.”
Conservative councillor for Broughty Ferry, Derek Scott asserts that an independent inquiry would ensure “mistakes and oversights” are never repeated.
Council leader, John Alexander, says “multiple points of failure contributed to the Olympia closure and repair works,” and that there is no “singular answer” to the beleaguered building’s problems.
He adds that he is “unsure” of what the opposition are “looking to find”.
The Olympia pools are due to reopen in October. If this happens on schedule, it will be two years since the building was shut for repairs in 2021.
Labour councillors say that if an independent inquiry was proposed at a committee, it would be defeated by the majority SNP block vote.
In a statement last October, Councillor Kevin Keenan, Labour group leader, said that although information is available, it’s not possible to “fully establish the root cause and where responsibility lies.”
‘Inquiry can achieve more’
Mr Keenan said: “I’m still in favour of there being an independent inquiry. This is costing the taxpayer in Dundee a considerable amount of money.
“The opposition councillors asked questions, the administration sat back, saying very little.
“An independent inquiry might just be able to do a lot more than I was able to do within the few hours of the scrutiny committee.”
‘People need assurance’
Derek Scott, Conservative councillor for Broughty Ferry said: “Dundee council taxpayers and users of the facility need to be satisfied that the issues that led to the closure of the pool have been thoroughly investigated.
“An independent inquiry would provide that level of assurance.”
‘Independent of the administration’
Such an inquiry, like that held into last year’s £4.4m council roofing blunder, would be conducted by an organisation outside of the local authority’s elected members and permanent officers.
Mr Alexander argues: “Four of the committee meetings were led by the council’s scrutiny committee: Convened by the leader of the Labour group, Councillor Kevin Keenan with the two depute conveners being the leaders of the Lib Dem group and the Conservative representative.
“If that’s not independent of the administration, I don’t know what is.”
‘Information readily available.’
He added: “After eight separate committee reports, more than 800 pages of technical reports, a full review of design, defective issues, liability and maintenance logs it is abundantly clear that there were multiple points of failure. The information is readily available to anyone and everyone that wants to read it.”
‘Progress on repairs’
Leader of the Liberal Democrat group, Fraser Macpherson said: “Our group focus is on ensuring the refurbishment is on time to ensure reopening later this year and on budget.
“To that end, I have sought and have been given an assurance that the council group leaders’ meeting in April will be given updates from officers about progress with the refurbishment works and the date for re-opening Olympia.”
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