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An SSE board member has come under fire for her role in renewing a sweetheart deal for local authority tenants.
Sue Bruce took up a non-executive directorship at the energy company last month and continues to work as chief executive of Edinburgh City Council.
Bruce pledged to donate her £50,000-a-year fee from SSE to Edinburgh charities and carry out the work in her own time. This was not enough to silence concerns about the potential for conflicts of interest.
SSE is now negotiating with the council to renew a “preferred supplier agreement” to council flats, worth an estimated £11 million. A council whistleblower told the Edinburgh Evening News: “No matter what decision is made, this will not look right to the public.”
Bruce denied any conflict of interest and said she would take no part in the decision.
A leader in the Edinburgh Evening News called for Bruce to choose between the council and SSE. “Clearly, we cannot and are not suggesting impropriety on either the part of Ms Bruce or SSE,” it said. “The problem, and one which has led to her position with SSE being described as untenable, is how it appears and is interpreted by the ordinary taxpayer.”
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