Council 'broke no rules' using £100,000 from Burntisland's Common Good Fund

The committee became embroiled in a row last year after it signed off on using £100,000 from Burntisland Common Good Fund to upgrade the circuitry at the Links for the town's annual fair.

Councillors approved the sum after hearing that showmen had threatened to "abandon" the fete if they were forced to use diesel generators.

Further to this, council officers justified using the Common Good Fund by highlighting Burntisland's status as Common Good land, which they said the fund was there to maintain.

However, critics of the decision at the time said the Common Good Fund shouldn't be used for the benefit of what they saw as a private commercial venture.

The row prompted an investigation by Audit Scotland, which concluded that councillors had made the decision without being "fully informed" due to inaccuracies in the papers presented to them.

The auditor recommended reconsidering the decision with more accurate information.

A subsequent internal review by Fife Council's legal services team has now concluded that, despite Audit Scotland's findings, the committee acted properly in approving the six-figure investment.

In his report on Tuesday, the council's head of communities and neighbourhoods Paul Vaughan said: "That Kirkcaldy Area Committee acted within its authority...when it took the decision to contribute £100k to the replacement electrical works (from the Fund) is not within doubt."

The council pays a rental of the Links of £500 per year to the Common Good Fund. Any income from the shows and other activities held on the Common Good land goes into the parks service.

Legal advisors for the council who conducted the review concluded that the replacement of the electricity supply was a major upgrade rather than a minor repair - the latter of which the council would have been required to pay for under the current leasing agreement.

Alex MacDonald, chairman of the Burntisland Community Council, said the council was "skating on extremely thin ice" by using the funding to support privateers appearing at the summer fair.

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"This is 100% a Fife Council responsibility," he said.

"Fife Council put in the electricity supply t it failed after 17 years and it didn't have a plan in place (to replace it). It's a flaw in its plans, no doubt about that.

"They Council is confused over whether it is the custodian of the land or the landlord of the summer fair - and those two halves do not make a whole.

"This is a question of commercial interests and ethics as well, not just a legal issue. I disagree with the advice Fife Council's legal officers have given."

Cllr Gordon Langlands (Scottish Labour, Burntisland, Kinghorn & Western Kirkcaldy) submitted a motion calling for a report seeking greater clarity on the relationship between the council and the Common Good Fund, including financial transactions, prior to the next Burntisland fair taking place.

"Hopefully Covid will go away and we can get this report and enjoy the next Burntisland summer fair," he said.

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