Cumnock and New Cumnock councillor Neill Watts tax arrears

Cumnock and New Cumnock councillor Neill Watts was censured after he was found to have breached the councillors’ code of conduct at a Standards Commission hearing on Wednesday.

Under local government finance rules, any councillor who is two or more months in arrears must declare this and cannot participate in any meeting that relates to council tax.

Councillor Watts failed to declare outstanding council tax debts of just under £950 for his current and previous homes before attending a budget setting meeting in February 2023.

READ MORE: Woodroad footpath and drainage issues set to be repaired 

On February 21, just two days before the budget meeting, Chief Governance Officer David Mitchell sent all councillors a note reiterating, amongst other things, the need to declare any tax arrears ahead of the meeting.

Asked whether Cllr Watts had contacted him after receiving this advice, Mr Mitchell said ‘no’.
Mr Mitchell also told the hearing that he didn’t believe checks had been made on councillors’ finances ahead of the budget meeting.

It was only during an adjournment that an official told him that Cllr Watts was in arrears.

Mr Mitchell then approached the councillor to inform him of this and asked if there were any other debts outstanding, which Cllr Watts denied.

At this stage Mr Mitchell was only made aware of a £190 debt and chose not to advise the councillor to leave the meeting.

Cumnock and New Cumnock councillor, Neill Watts. (Image: NQ Archive)

He said that this was down to the fact that Cllr Watts had already participated in the meeting and his view that the level of arrears would not trigger more serious criminal proceedings.

However, it would later transpire that Cllr Watts had arrears from a previous property.

Mr Mitchell added: “I accepted it at the time and accept now that advice wasn’t actually accurate. I should have told Councillor Watts he should no longer participate in the meeting.”

He told the panel that he was only made aware of the older arrears in April. This brought the total arrears at the time of the budget meeting to £944.

He said: “Councillor Watts’ position was that he believed that whilst the repayment arrangement was in place, that he had in effect, cleared those earlier debts, and there may have been some either misunderstanding or confusion.”

The level of arrears and potential breach of law led to EAC chief executive, Eddie Fraser, making a complaint to both the Standards Commission and the police.

The Procurator Fiscal eventually chose not to pursue criminal proceedings.

READ MORE: Councillor's plea for Woodroad Park responses

Sarah Pollock, representing the Ethical Standards Commissioner, said: “Whether the respondent accrued council tax debt in his capacity as a councillor is irrelevant. The breach in this case is about him taking part in the budget meeting while in arrears.”

She highlighted the fact that Cllr Watts presented the Conservative group’s opposition to the five percent increase in council tax.

She added: “The respondent had ample opportunity to declare his arrears.

“He chose not to use these opportunities and it was not until the respondent met with the chief executive and monitoring officer, that he acknowledged the full extent of his indebtedness.”

Councillor Watts told the panel that he had endured a stressful period of upheaval at the time of selling his previous home, years before becoming a councillor.

He said he believed the declaration he made when he became a councillor related to his current home, not his previous one.

He also said that, while he did participate in the meeting, there was no impact as the SNP and Labour groups negotiated a ‘consensus budget’.

He added: “I gave the Conservative group statement because I am the deputy group leader, and I was asked to do so.

“All I can do is apologise. I am human, and I have my made a mistake, and I totally accept that.

“I did take steps after it became apparent, to ensure that it couldn’t happen again.

“In some respects, I’m mortified that I have potentially broken the code.”

Suzanne Vestri, Chair of the Panel, said: “The respondent had not disclosed arrears relating to another property for previous years, despite being aware that these were also the subject of a debt recovery action by way of summary warrant, and that a repayment plan was in place. 

“The panel also noted this was despite having received an email from the council’s monitoring officer two days before the meeting.

 “A failure to adhere to the law and code can damage the reputation of the councillor in question.

“It can also undermine trust in the council, given members of the public have a right to question why such a councillor has been allowed to take part in decisions on the level of council tax to be paid by others, and on how the local authority’s funds are to be spent.”

READ MORE: New Cumnock mum hopes to honour 'shining light' daughter

The panel noted Cllr Watts' position that his failure to adhere to the code was not deliberate and that he had co-operated fully with the investigation. 

However, it found that he had failed to disclose the full extent of his council tax arrears ‘despite various opportunities to do so’.

Ms Vestri continued: “In particular, the panel noted that the respondent had signed, following his election in May 2022, a declaration of debts.

“While the panel concluded that the respondent should have realised he could not participate in the meeting and should not have done so, it was nevertheless satisfied on balance that his contribution to the discussion was based on the views of his party and did not stem from any personal interest. 

“Furthermore, while the panel considered the potential impact on public perception of councillors and the council was serious, the panel accepted the respondent’s remorse, full apology and his full cooperation with the process.”

The panel agreed to a formal censure of Cllr Watts.