Highlands councillor suspended over 'disrespectful' exchange in 'threatening' email

A Liberal Democrat councillor in the Highlands chas been suspended after being found to have breached the councillors’ code of conduct.

Sutherland councillor Michael Baird has been suspended for two months after he was found to have been “disrespectful towards the chair and committee of a local community group.”

The “disrespectful” exchange came when the councillor was involved with a project to transform Carbisdale Castle.

The castle is being passed onto a community benefit board who will oversee opening up the historical site to the public.

Councillor Baird has accepted he breached the code of conduct and has since “apologised unequivocally”.

What was the breach?

The local group were consulted on a land purchase by Forestry and Land Scotland, as part of Carbisdale Castle’s development project.

Councillor Baird became involved with the land purchase when he sent the chair of the local group an email in September 2023.

In the email, Councillor Baird stated that if the local group’s committee did not support the land purchase, he would not support future funding for the local village hall.

The panel were also told the Sutherland councillor had made repeated calls to the committee chair and made “several unannounced visits” to their home.

The committee is responsible for Culrain Hall, nearby to Carbisdale Castle and previous funding for the group has come from the council’s discretionary ward budget.

Councillor Baird, along with other ward councillors can advise council officers on how ward budgets should be spent.

Councillor Michael Baird ‘threatened to use his position and influence’

The panel said that while Councillor Baird was allowed to advise how ward funding should be spent, what he sent the local Chair what could be interpreted as a “threat.”

Morag Ferguson, Standards Commission member and chair of the Hearing Panel said: “The panel found that Councillor Baird effectively threatened to use his position and influence over the expenditure of ward funds to pressure the Chair and Committee into making a decision on a wholly unrelated matter.

“The panel considered that the making of such a threat in the circumstances was disrespectful towards the Chair and Committee.”

Mrs Ferguson added that Councillor Baird could have offered assistance to the chair and committee “without issuing any threat concerning council funding.”

Councillor Baird apologises for code breach

In response to the result of the hearing, Councillor Michael Baird said it has been “a stressful time.”

He said: “I accepted that a correspondence I sent may be construed as discourteous, and I apologised unequivocally for this.

“I’m pleased that the panel acknowledged that my email correspondence was motivated by the good of the community, and the creation of jobs that the project at Carbisdale Castle will bring; and I remain steadfast in this belief.

“I do hope that the hall committee can now move on, and that members of the community can enjoy a peaceful coexistence.”

Lady Carbisdale said the purchase of land was necessary for the castle to remain an “iconic asset for Sutherland and the Highlands as a whole.”

Lady Carbisdale said: “While I admire Michael’s passion, I wasn’t aware that he had written a discourteous email; and I’m pleased that he apologised and that this is the extent of the finding.

“I understand that he apologised sincerely, and I’m sure that it was a solitary incident that he will not repeat.”