Moray Council meeting over St Giles Centre hears that Police Scotland could investigate debts
A council meeting has heard that the St Giles Centre’s unpaid business rates could be the target of a police investigation.
Councillors today voted to consider a report into how Moray Council handled the unpaid bills, and their recovery, in private.
The St Giles Centre closed on January 20, after tenant businesses were given less than two weeks notice.
In November, councillors agreed to pursue around £750,000 in unpaid rates from the operating company St Giles Shopping Centre Holdings Ltd.
At today’s meeting of the Audit and Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Sandy Keith (Elgin South, Labour) pushed for a public debate over the new report.
Interim CEO of Moray Council John Mundell commissioned an internal audit of how debt recovery from St Giles Shopping Centre Ltd was carried out.
However, Cllr Keith’s bid was defeated by eight votes to five and the report was debated in private as originally planned.
‘The council had no option’
During the meeting, Committee chairman Councillor Scott Lawrence (Forres, SNP) said he favoured debating the report in private but pledged to release more information about the report.
A statement released after the meeting contained new context for the closure of the St Giles Centre.
As far back as 2022, the statement added, there had been “extensive communications” over the shopping centre’s growing debt burden and financial difficulties.
He also confirmed that a repayment plan had been agreed with the director of St Giles Shopping Centre Holdings Ltd, Aviemore businessman David John Cameron.
However, this was “not upheld” and “the council had no option” but to start recovery efforts.
The statement also revealed that the attempt to recover debts had been temporarily suspended, as Moray Council discussed “potential redevelopment of the Centre”.
Auditors found, however, that the topic “should have been raised with full council at an earlier date to afford councillors the opportunity to consider all the challenging details of the situation”.
Also agreed, was a recommendation to “improve record keeping and monitoring of any similar decisions”, with such steps to be taken “much earlier”.
‘Unusual level of public interest’
The motion to consider the report in public was proposed by Cllr Keith, and seconded Councillor John Stuart (Buckie, Independent).
Cllr Macrae, however proposed an amendment to hold the discussion in private, but with a statement included that noted that further investigations may take place.
Councillor Donald Gatt (Keith and Cullen, Conservative) seconded the amendment.
Cllr Keith said: “There is an unusual level of public interest in how the Moray Council arrived at its decision to enforce the collection of non-domestic rates liability for the St Giles Centre.
“I would say that, on the balance of harms, the public interest favours transparency and thus dealing with this matter in public.
“I have rarely, in the past, tried to have something that would ordinarily have been held in private be brought to the public.
“I thought there was an overwhelming level of public interest in the matter, that is why I moved it.
“I think we could still have had a robust debate in public.”
Councillor Marc Macrae even suggested that the St Giles Centre’s unpaid debts could be the subject of a future police investigation, while arguing that a public debate could hamper this.
He would normally have supported Cllr Keith’s effort to have the report into St Giles Centre debts debated in public.
However, the councillor argued the debate should be held in private because a public discussion could prejudice any future police investigation.
He said: “I was at a community council meeting where I could have been hung, drawn and quartered because: ‘Why did you, as a councillor, allow this to happen?’
“I would move that we accept the resolution on one ground only - and it would be nice to have this minuted.
“To hold it in private permits this to be investigated in another place.
“I would hope that, perhaps not councillors, but other people in society may seek this to be investigated in another place.
“By another place, I do not refer to an external auditor, but I refer to the police of Scotland.”
Cllr Macrae confirmed he had spoken to the chief executive and monitoring officer Alasdair McEachan about the agenda item.
The councillor said there were “many questions that follow from the report” which remain to be answered.
“There are some answers that might only come from a further investigation of this matter,” Cllr Macrae added.
“There are words in the dictionary - such as malfeasance - but that is for other people to investigate and other people to determine.
“To not hinder ourselves from closing the door on this, it is quite right that the matter is held in private at this moment.”
Committee chair Cllr Lawrence said he favoured a private discussion to allow for “a robust and a freer discussion”.
If the report was debated in public, he added, councillors may end up “dancing on the head of a pin, watching what we are saying”.
