The Accounts Commission has found that East Lothian council failed to handle the voluntary redundancy of its chief executive in a satisfactory manner.

The report into the matter, published by the Commission last week, came on the back of damning criticism of the issue in the media and over 100 letters to the Accounts Commission calling for an investigation into what happened.

The voluntary redundancy of the chief executive and departmental restructuring at East Lothian Council attracted particularly vocal criticism from the new leader of the council, councillor David Berry, and SNP member of the authority who, prior to the election, had been the only SNP member on the council.

The investigation came about after the council agreed to restructure its departments at a special meeting of the council in February this year in order to increase efficiency savings and to agree to the early retirement of its chief executive, John Lindsay, on the grounds of redundancy carrying a pay-off of approximately £149,000. Members then decided to restrict applicants to replace the chief executive to internal candidates only. The Accounts Commission concluded that the authority would have been better placed to demonstrate that it appointed the best candidate if it had invited applications from external candidates and conducted a full selection process.

The Commission last week said that other authorities should learn the lessons from what happened at East Lothian Council, and in particular recognise that best practice should be followed when councils make such decisions, that information provided to elected members should be sufficient and supported by professional advice, and that the process for appointing a chief executive should demonstrate that the council appointed the best candidate.

The importance of transparency in decision making was also highlighted, as was the importance of giving members sufficient time and information to consider the issues.