Last May, its highly-respected chairwoman, Fiona Mackenzie, was refused a reappointment for a further three years — a move panel members say was unheard of, and was, in effect, a sacking. At the same time, a former councillor has taken over as the head of the body which was responsible for that decision.

Disaffected panel members have questioned the composition of the body which selects members, saying most of the Children’s Panel Advisory Committee are either councillors or council employees without experience of children’s services, albeit they’re volunteers who are unpaid.

The new chairman of the CPAC is former councillor George de Gernier.

Long-serving panel member Harry McEwan resigned three weeks ago — it’s believed there have been others — and said the remainder had stayed only because they had the best interests of children in Dundee in mind. They’re also said to be unhappy with the appointment of Mr de Gernier, who was invited to apply for the post, despite the applications of two other people with wide experience of children’s services.

Mr McEwan said, “There have been an awful lot of calls of support for Fiona from panel members, and the general feeling is that the CPAC is not doing its job.

“We believe it is political, because the panel is independent, and has quite a bit of say. They are an uncontrolled voice, and the politicians do not like that.”

A current panel veteran said bluntly, “The problem seems to be that the council, through the CPAC, is trying to run the panel.

“For the first time in my knowledge, and I have known four chairmen, a chairperson has not been reappointed.

He said the committee which carried out the initial interview with Ms MacKenzie consisted of four councillors, headed by former Provost, Councillor Helen Wright.

He said, “Fiona was a fantastic ambassador for the panel in Dundee.

“We believe there is a political agenda going on because, in essence, we are a loose cannon and the council doesn’t like that.

“Everyone on the panel is disgusted at the way she’s been treated.

“We had a meeting, and there was a resounding vote of confidence in her.

“Despite the fact Fiona was basically sacked back in May, she is still acting chairwoman because they’ve found no one to replace her, so that says something about her abilities.

“We believe the CPAC is riding roughshod over people. We have no gains, no political capital from being members of the panel, but many of us have real fears for the future of the panel in Dundee.”

A city council spokesman said that although the council gave administrative support to the CPAC and committee, the CPAC was a statutory body independent of the council, adding, “The appointment of the chair to the Children’s Panel and the CPAC is made by the Scottish Executive through the Minister for education and young people.”