TWO local authority press officers who were reportedly suspended for making critical comments about council leaders on an online staff messaging system are understood to have handed in their resignations.
The pair are said to have handed in their resignations to Argyll and Bute Council. Local newspaper, The Oban Times, and today’s Herald, both quote a council spokesperson saying the resignation letters mean an investigation into their behaviour has been halted.
The spokesperson is quoted, as saying: “It is not this council’s normal practice to provide briefings or otherwise make comment in respect of on-going disciplinary investigation work.
“But in view of some inaccurate and misleading reporting of this matter within some areas of the media, it is considered appropriate to confirm the following: On Wednesday, April 4, two members of council staff were suspended pending an investigation. The background to both suspensions and the resultant investigation put in place to deal with matters does not, in any way, relate to any other investigation being undertaken currently by the council.
“Both officers have since submitted letters resigning from their positions and these have been accepted by the council. As a consequence, this concludes matters as regards both officers.”
The ‘other investigation’ no doubt refers to a suspension in February of the council’s head of communications, after she allegedly admitted to joining social media networks to see what members of the public were saying about the council.
