Rural economy minister, Fergus Ewing, should quit over alleged “massive cover-
Colin Kennedy said commissioners are Scottish Government “puppets,” taking the “blame for other agendas.”
He accused Mr Ewing of turning a blind eye to grazing committees apparently wrongly claiming EU subsidies for land improvement works.
Mr Kennedy said Fergus Ewing should consider his position.
He said: “Given the Scottish Government is actually the main shareholder of the commission and the executive staff and the staff employed by the government are there to deliver on behalf of the government, the board are merely the puppets.”
He added: “It will take more than a change of six elected commissioners to make any difference given the executive are authorised to remove (and) potentially destroy papers.”
Last month, a Scottish Government governance review into the crofting regulator found fundamental inconsistencies,gaps in records of events, and personalities clashes, led to the breakdown of the organisation.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government has asked the new chief executive to urgently prepare an action plan to take forward actions to improve the governance of the Crofting Commission as outlined by the recent Crofting Commission Governance Review.”
“Cover-
17 March 2017
Fergus Ewing
Colin Kennedy