Duty of Officials to Councillors
Edinburgh Tram Inquiry · Edinburgh Tram Inquiry Report · Issued 12 September 2023 · Addressed to: City of Edinburgh Council
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
Local authority officials should be mindful at all times of the distinction in roles between them and councillors, who are solely responsible for strategic decisions, and of their duty to provide accurate reports to councillors to enable them to take informed decisions based upon the reality of the situation. Such reports should not be misleading either by the inclusion of false statements or by the omission of relevant facts. Where officials prepare and submit reports based upon reports to them from an ALEO acting as the procurement and delivery vehicle, they should not assume the accuracy of these reports based upon the adoption of a 'one family' approach involving the local authority and the ALEO.
Edinburgh Tram Inquiry, Edinburgh Tram Inquiry Report · 12 Sep 2023 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- The Council committee report (16 November 2023) noted that the Council's Member/Officer Protocol highlights the distinction in roles between officials and councillors (City of Edinburgh Council Committee Report, 16 November 2023).
- No published updated guidance specifically requiring accurate reporting to councillors on major project progress has been identified to March 2026.
Sources
Response — verbatim from government
●City of Edinburgh Council — initial response
Council Leader Cammy Day stated: 'We know that serious mistakes were made in the construction of the original tram line.' The Council broadly agrees with Lord Hardie's recommendations but notes improvements were already implemented for the successful Trams to Newhaven project. The Council has not published a formal detailed response to individual recommendations. Source: Council news release, 2 November 2023.
City of Edinburgh Council · 2 Nov 2023 Written response →
●City of Edinburgh Council — follow-up
Recommendation 21 highlights the need for local authority officials to be mindful of the distinction in roles between them and councillors. This is an important element of the Council's governance, and the Member/Officer Protocol highlights the distinction of roles between officers and councillors. Currently training is being delivered to senior officers initially across the Council on the Protocol and this is covered extensively in the training. Recommendation 21 also recommends that officers do not assume the accuracy of ALEO reports based upon the adoption of a 'one family' approach. The 2016 ALEO report sought to build greater controls to ensure more independent advice from Council officers through the use of Council observers and reporting arrangements. As part of the ALEO framework workstream this will be reviewed and strengthened further. It is recommended that the Council adopt recommendations 20 and 21. Source: Chief Executive's report to Transport and Environment Committee, 16 November 2023. Note: City of Edinburgh Council statuses are drawn from the Chief Executive's report to the Transport and Environment Committee (16 November 2023), referred to the full Council on 14 December 2023. This report appears to have been formally adopted but independent confirmation has not been obtained.
City of Edinburgh Council · 16 Nov 2023 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 2 Nov 2023 Initial status based on Scottish Government and City of Edinburgh Council responses to the Edinburgh Tram Inquiry Report (September 2023). Source →
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.