SIR;– THE letter from the crofter who did not feel able to have his or her name published, that of Donnie Ross and Colin Kennedy`s interview with Mr MacSkimming make dismal but not surprising reading.
I was the complainant acting upon legal advice in a case presented to the Commission in the summer of 2012. It was decided to ask Mr Bruce Beveredge, WS, to conduct a full Independent Investigation at the end of 2012.Publication by the Commission took 11 months. The recommendations directly relating to this township were ignored completely. What needs to be ascertained is the use to which the wider report into the Commisssion`s handling of the case, the conduct of the officials and the obtaining of legal advice were put, when discussions were taken in the recent high profile and widely reported cases.
Mr Beveredge assured me that the Commissioners and the Commission were left in no doubt with regard to their duties, responsibilities and obligations in cases relating to matters of money and allegations of misconduct.
There is an urgent need to know if Ms MacLean was even made aware of this important document with wide-ranging recommendations pertinent to the present cases, by her senior officials.
One wonders why large four figure sums are shelled out for such reports when, if inconvenient in the particular, they appear to be treated in the usual Commission manner-put to the bottom of the pile.
To restore trust in the Commission, in the Commissioners and in the Minister and his departmental officials dealing with crofting, there needs to be appointed by the First Minister, a respected judicial figure with expertise in crofting, governance and the wider aspects brought out in Mr Souter`s report of late August, to the shareholders of Upper Coll, with powers under the relevant investigatory statutes, to call and examine witnesses under oath, including relevant ministers, past and present .
An unqualified assurance must be given to Parliament by the first Minister that such recommendations as may be produced will be acted upon, unabridged, without delay.
I.K.MacKenzie
The Willows
Elphin by Lairg
IV27 4HH
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