Still in the north-east, congratulations are due to Douglas Paterson, chief executive of Aberdeen City Council, who was honoured by Her Majesty on her 80th birthday. Paterson, a former education director in Grampian, picked up a CBE for services to local government.
Among former senior officials unlikely to be joining the celebrations is Brian Woodcock, head of leisure and sport and, more recently, head of neighbourhood services north until he was sacked by Paterson for alleged gross misconduct.
Woodcock has just won an internal appeal and has an employment tribunal pending, which may well cost the council a pretty corporate penny. It cannot be true, then, that CBE stands for Can’t Bear Education.
