Glasgow 2014 Games committee is 'whiter than white', insists chairman

Jul 7 2011

Glasgow 2014

CHAIRMAN of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, Lord Smith of Kelvin, insists there's been no cover-up over the circumstances that led to the resignation of chief executive John Scott.

Lord Smith of Kelvin said the organising committee is transparent and open to scrutiny.

Mr Scott stood down last week after failing to declare an offer from a potential supplier in breach of the committee's strict gifts and gratuities policy.

Lord Smith, 66, said Mr Scott's resignation should not be used as an excuse to attack the project.

He said: "We should be getting brownie points for being whiter than white."

The 2014 board has so far refused to disclose details of the offer, despite calls to do so.

He added: "In terms of transparency, we produce accounts, we report to the strategy group which is chaired by the First Minister and includes the leader of Glasgow City Council.

"We are subject to all sorts of analysis of what we are doing."

He added: "I've not tried to cover up anything. I looked into it, I spoke to John. John, faced with a situation, said he wanted to tender his resignation.

"I felt it was the right thing to do. I shared that with the board. We had a discussion about it."

Lord Kelvin rejected calls for the Games to be subject to scrutiny under Freedom of Information laws as "probably not a good thing" as sponsors "are quite shy about what they're spending their money on".

He added: "I would not like to be speaking to a big bank or a big techie company and asking for sponsorship and they say: 'Is this going to be made public?'."

A Scottish Government spokesman confirmed last week that ministers - including Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon and sports minister Shona Robison - and Government officials are aware of the full situation surrounding Mr Scott's resignation.