Mask comes off over Glasgow City Council's "Jobs for the boys" policy

SNP MSP for Glasgow Cathcart, James Dornan, has today lambasted Glasgow City Council over the extraordinary amounts of money that the council wasted on ALEOs across the city.

Following yesterday's announcement that Gordon Matheson plans to wind up a number of ALEOs, following the decision by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance to remove the payments for these positions, the Cathcart MSP said that these actions highlights the fact that many ALEOs were never about making Glasgow a better city, but instead were about controlling and rewarding Glasgow Labour councillors at the expense of Glasgow's council tax payers.

Mr Dornan has also said that there should be an independent investigation to determine just how much money was wasted on ALEOs since their inception, and if many of these ALEOs were required in the first place.

The MSP said: "The speed at which Gordon Matheson has moved to wind up these bodies following John Swinney's announcement is just staggering.

"For me, this highlights the point that I and my colleagues have been making for some time; that these ALEOs were mainly about rewarding and controlling Labour councillors, and had very little to do with making the city better for its residents.

"Whilst I am obviously delighted that the government have moved to end these payments, it's a shame that the Labour administration refused to support the numerous motions and suggestions from the SNP group to remove these payments before.

"Sadly, however, the "jobs for the boys" approach to governing the city has become the hallmark of this tired administration. So if Gordon Matheson wants to move on and put a lid on this, he must support my calls for a full independent inquiry in to the reasons for, and the use of, Glasgow's ALEOs since their conception."