SCOTTISH BORDERS COUNCIL — INVESTIGATION DOSSIER

Published 16 August 2026 • Updated Continually

 THE SAME PATTERN — EVERYWHERE

Our investigation reveals the identical systemic pattern found across five Scottish councils: long-serving councillors hold all power. Reserves down 46%. Debt up £53.3m. Consultancy costs more than doubled. Councillors awarded 50% pay rises while taxes rose 18.6% and services were cut.

  THE JEDBURGH SMOKING GUN

A Carnegie community building advertised at £120,000 — sold for £60,000 to a serving councillor. Fast-tracked, bypassing community rights. No valuation published. No interest declared.

HIDDEN

- £19.5m reserves vanished — no clear breakdown

- £107,500+ sent overseas — while local services cut

- 6+ hidden companies — land & funds flow through them

- Former staff → contractors → £millions in contracts

- Chief Executive 5 years — every metric worsened

- Audit warnings repeated year after year — no improvement

WHAT WE DEMAND

Full transparency. Declarations. Valuations. Answers. Formal requests issued. 20 working days to respond.

The system is not broken. It is being operated this way.

Dear MR Robertson,

I am writing to you in my capacity as lead investigator for JAOC Investigations, an independent public interest investigation body. We have opened a formal inquiry into Scottish Borders Council following sustained public concern and whistleblower disclosures regarding governance standards, asset transparency, and compliance with statutory disclosure obligations.

While our broader inquiry covers several administrative and financial areas, this formal notice focuses strictly on critical failures regarding the Councillors' Register of Interests, statutory transparency mechanisms, and high-value community asset disposals.

We are formally requesting your detailed response and the associated records set out below under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004, and the Councillors' Code of Conduct. 1. THE REGISTER OF INTERESTS & LEADERSHIP TRANSPARENCY

We have noted an absolute absence of documented financial, property, or business interests on the public Register for key members of the council leadership, including Council Leader David Parker, Finance Convener Stuart Marshall, and Planning Convener Sandy Aitchison. Furthermore, historical registers and revision logs are not publicly accessible to verify compliance over time.

Please provide:

• Complete historical Registers of Interests for ALL serving councillors, covering the period from May 2022 to the present date, including all interim amendments and declarations submitted.
• The internal compliance policy and review mechanism used by the Chief Executive's department to audit, verify, and enforce completeness of the Register of Interests.
• An explicit explanation as to why historical declarations are currently withheld from public view and the statutory mechanism relied upon to justify non-publication.

2. THE JEDBURGH COMMUNITY BUILDING SALE

Information received indicates that the former Carnegie Community Building in Jedburgh was advertised for sale at £120,000 but subsequently disposed of for £60,000 to a serving councillor. The transaction was reportedly fast-tracked, effectively bypassing the community asset transfer process and denying local groups their statutory right to bid.

Please provide:

• The full name of the purchaser and confirmation of whether they held any elected or official capacity within the council at the time of the transaction.
• The complete, independent valuation report obtained by the Council prior to marketing and approval of the sale.
• The exact date, committee minutes, and recorded vote outcome approving the disposal.
• Written confirmation of whether Planning Convener Sandy Aitchison (or any other attending member) declared an interest, registered a conflict, or formally withdrew from the discussion and vote.
• The specific procedural justification for bypassing standard community asset transfer pathways in this instance.

3. TRANSPARENCY OF COUNCIL LAND & ASSET DISPOSALS

Multiple land and building sales across the Borders—spanning Tweeddale, Hawick, Jedburgh, Galashiels, Selkirk, and Kelso—reveal that final sale prices, independent valuations, and purchaser identities have frequently been withheld from public scrutiny under blanket confidentiality claims.

Please provide:

• A comprehensive register of ALL land and asset disposals completed since May 2022. For each entry, please detail:
  1. Specific site name and location
  2. Date of formal sale completion
  3. Initially advertised or expected price
  4. Final achieved sale price
  5. Full name of the purchaser (corporate or individual)
  6. Independent valuation figure obtained prior to sale
  7. The approving committee or delegated officer

 LEGAL BASIS & EXPECTED RESPONSE

This letter constitutes formal statutory notice. We expect a full, substantive response within 20 working days of receipt.

If any requested information is withheld, you must cite the specific statutory exemption under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 or Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and provide a detailed public interest test justification explaining why withholding outweighs transparency. Blanket redactions or generalized commercial confidentiality claims will be challenged immediately.

Should we receive an evasive response, an incomplete disclosure, or fail to receive compliance within the statutory window, this matter will be escalated directly to the Scottish Information Commissioner, Audit Scotland, and the Standards Commission for Scotland—accompanied by the publication of our preliminary investigative dossier.

We remain available to meet with you or your designated monitoring officer on a confidential basis to discuss these disclosures prior to the expiry of the deadline.

Yours sincerely,

Andrew Sibley

JAOC Investigations  

Forensic investigation. Legal accountability. No child ignored.