The Scotsman

Salmond ‘sexual harassment’ report to remain secret

- By CONOR MATCHETT conor.matchett@jpimedia.co.uk

The former permanent secretary’s report that judged Alex S almond had sexually harassed two Scottish Government officials during his time as first minister is unlikely to ever be made public following a ruling by the Scottish Informatio­n Commission­er.

Leslie Evans’ report into allegation­s of harassment against the former first minister sparked the collapse of the relationsh­ip between Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon and almost led to the end of the current SNP leader’s political career.

It was “reduced” by the Court of Session in 2019 following a judicial review brought by Salmond after ministers admitted procedural flaws meant the investigat­ion into the allegation­s had been “tainted by apparent bias” and was therefore unfair and unlawful.

What followed was two years of a bitter, dramatic parliament­ary inquiry into the botched process, including Sturgeon putting her political future in the hands of the independen­t adviser on the ministeria­l code.

The First Minister was found by MSPS to have misled Parliament, but was cleared by James Hamilton of the same offence, narrowly surviving.

Salmond was also acquitted of sexual offence charges in a highprofil­e court case in 2020.

In September 2020, Scotland on Sunday requested the release of any official report resulting from the Scottish Government’s harassment complaints procedure under which the former first minister was investigat­ed.

Ministers initially claimed the report did not exist and were rapped on the knuckles by the Scottish Informatio­n Commission­er in May last year, shortly after the 2021 Holyrood election won by the SNP.

The latest ruling follows min↑ A•ex Salmond was acquitted of sexual offence charges isters claiming they could not release the report in any fashion, with or without redactions, due to court orders following the judicial review process.

In a decision notice, commission­er Daren Fitzhenry agreed with submission­s from the Scottish Government that disclosing the informatio­n would be likely to lead to the identifica­tion of the individual­s involved, therefore breaching the court order. Fitzhenr y also agreed releasing the report would lead to potential future complainan­ts coming forward under the ministers’ new procedure.

He said: “The commission­er is satisfied, in the circumstan­ces, that disclosure of the informatio­n would make it much less likely that those participat­ing in such an investigat­ion, such as complainer­s and witnesses, would be willing to provide informatio­n about concerns, to the substantia­l prejudice of the authority’s ability to investigat­e matters concerning the conduct of persons.”

The commission­er also said the public interest in allowing ministers to investigat­e complaints outweighed the public interest in transparen­cy around the complaints.

He said: “The commission­er also accepts that there is a strong public interest in ensuring that future complainer­s are not deterred from making complaints of improper conduct and that the authorit y continues to be able to ascertain whether individual­s are responsibl­e for improper conduct, albeit under new procedures. It is important, with a view to ensuring high standards of conduct are observed, that the authority is able perform these investigat­ive functions effectivel­y.”

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