New external system for complaints against Scottish ministers

The Scottish government has published its new procedure for dealing with harassment and bullying complaints against ministers.

External investigators will look into formal complaints against current and former ministers, with the government responsible for acting on findings.

Changes were recommended in light of the mishandling of complaints against former first minister Alex Salmond.

John Swinney said the government had "learned valuable lessons".

The deputy first minister said the new system would come into effect in February after further talks with staff, unions and parliament.

The current complaints handling process was drawn up in 2017 in response to the #MeToo movement, and was used to investigate two allegations against Mr Salmond in early 2018.

However the government admitted that its probe had been "tainted by apparent bias" due to a procedural flaw after the former first minister raised a court challenge.

Mr Salmond - who was later cleared of charges of sexual assault in a separate criminal trial - was awarded more than £500,000 in legal costs, and a Holyrood inquiry concluded that the government's handling of the affair had been "seriously flawed".

A review by leading QC Laura Dunlop recommended that investigations of former ministers should be independent of government, and the new system has been drawn up with that in mind.

The five-step procedure will see complaints initially checked over by the Scottish government before being handed over to an independent investigator.

An external "decision maker" will then check that a reasonable investigation has been carried out, and rule on whether the complaint should be upheld or not.

The case will then be passed back to the Scottish government to decide on the proper response. Both complainers and the subject of complaints will have the right to an appeal, again considered by an external decision maker.

A pool of independent investigators is to be approved by Permanent Secretary John-Paul Marks, Scotland's top civil servant, and the Scottish ministerial code will be reviewed to make sure it is in line with the new procedure.

The government is also setting up a propriety and ethics team, and taking action to improve how it stores information and records following criticism of failures to bring forward key documents to court during Mr Salmond's legal challenge.

Mr Swinney said: "The Scottish government has learned valuable lessons and is putting the interests of those making complaints at the heart of plans to improve the handling of future issues.

"The updated procedure is part of the organisation's commitment to embedding a culture where bullying and harassment is not tolerated and where there is trust in how matters will be handled if things go wrong."