When local politician and police watchdog member Graham Houston received two invites to the same Holocaust memorial event, it left him with a dilemma few people would struggle with.
Should he follow the lead of his 21 colleagues on Stirling Council and accept the invitation from the local authority, which arrived first, or should he go wearing his Scottish Police Authority hat?
Despite the fact the commemoration was taking place within the councillor’s own ward, Cllr Houston plumped for the second option, allowing him to claim a sizeable half-day’s wage in the process.
The revelation the SNP member for Dunblane and Bridge of Allan chose to cash in on a such an emotive occasion is sure to heap further scrutiny on to the already beleaguered Scottish Police Authority.
It comes a week after we revealed key members, including its £90,000-a-year chairman, Vic Emery, billed taxpayers hundreds of pounds for attending funerals of Clutha tragedy victims.
It also follows high-profile questioning of the SPA and whether it is truly holding Scotland’s fledgling national force to account, as it was set up to do.
Last night, Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie questioned Cllr Houston’s judgment. He said: “We all make mistakes, but what matters is correcting them. I’m sure given time to reflect, he will want to repay.”
Cllr Houston, who is also the chair of the high-profile exam body the Scottish Qualifications Authority, first received an invite to the talk by Holocaust survivors in his capacity as a Stirling councillor.
The invitation was sent on December 18, 2013, to all 22 of the city’s local representatives. Then, two days later, he received another invite to the event to represent SPA board colleague Mr Emery.
By going wearing his SPA “hat” he was able to bank half a day’s wage of £150.
At the event held at the city’s Macrobert Arts Centre, which is just a short drive from Cllr Houston’s home the SNP politician heard from Dr Alfred Mnzer, who survived the Holocaust in the Netherlands with the help of his Indonesian neighbours who concealed him from the Nazis. Last night there were calls for the board member who banks £69,000 a year from the taxpayer for a string of public roles, £11,000 more than the annual salary of an MSP to pay the claim back.
Stirling Labour Councillor Danny Gibson said taxpayers will rightly have a problem with Houston.
He added: “Cllr Houston will have to explain to taxpayers why he has chosen the more financially lucrative invite to accept, especially given this national event took place in the ward he represents.
“I am sure the public will be able to draw their own conclusions. I personally attended the event myself and did not claim a penny from anyone for doing so.
“This seems a bad lapse in judgement.”
The Sunday Post understands Cllr Houston was asked by the SPA to attend as a substitute for chairman Mr Emery and decided to accept this invite instead. The councillor’s expenses record, released under Freedom of Information, show he claimed half a day at £150 on January 27 last year for attending the event.
If he’d gone wearing his councillor’s hat he would have been entitled to claim a small amount to cover travelling costs, but would not have been able to claim any additional expenses as his £16,389-a-year councillor’s salary is expected to cover him attending these sorts of events.
Meanwhile, it has been revealed the number of board members on the under-fire SPA is to increase. The police watchdog is interviewing candidates for three new vacancies which will come into force later this year.
The legislation which created the SPA allowed for up to 15 members, including the chairperson.
Under the new set-up, board members will be expected to work up to five days a month, and the chairman 10 days. Their expenses claims show they are regularly working more than that at the moment.
Cllr Houston was on holiday when we tried to contact him but he did issue the following statement earlier in the week.
He said: “Board members are remunerated on a daily or hourly rate for acting on behalf of the board and in this case I was asked to represent the SPA at an event to which they received an invitation.
“I think it was correct. I was doing a job of work in attending an event the SPA wanted to be represented at and if I am working I am entitled to get paid for the hours that I have worked.”
A spokeswoman for the SPA confirmed he was at the event as their representative.
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