A union leader has come to the defence of Scottish Public Servants involved in the Parliamentary investigation into the Government’s handling of harassment complaints against former First Minister, Alex Salmond.
General Secretary of the FDA union that covers senior Public Servants, Dave Penman said Public Servants had been treated with “almost open hostility” by Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs).
Mr Penman said that the Head of the Public Service, Permanent Secretary, Leslie Evans (pictured) had been the target of attacks suggesting she would be “thrown under the bus” as a result of the inquiry.
He accused inquiry members of making “derogatory comments” about Public Servants and “deliberately misquoting” oral evidence.
Ms Evans is one of several Public Servants who has come under serious scrutiny for their role in the development of the harassment complaints process and their handling of the complaints themselves.
The committee is examining the botched handling of harassment complaints against Mr Salmond by the Scottish Government, which led to a £500,000 ($A889,000) legal bill after the Government conceded a judicial review challenge on the grounds of the process being “tainted by apparent bias”.
Mr Salmond was also acquitted of sexual offence charges in a trial last year.
Mr Penman said there was little surprise MSPs were being accused of having reached a conclusion on the matter before the inquiry had concluded its work.
“From the outset, members of the committee have operated with almost open hostility towards Civil Servants, including an initial attempt to seek evidence in a way that could have caused them to breach the Civil Service Code,” Mr Penman said.
“They chose to operate in a quasi-judicial manner, requiring evidence under oath, yet the obligations this brings appear only to apply to witnesses and not to the committee itself,” he said.
Mr Penman said committee members had made points or personal remarks during questioning, including deliberately misquoting a response on the official record made by one witness when questioning another.
The Opposition Scottish Conservatives, who have two members on the committee, said the inquiry had become “farcical” and Mr Penman was attempting to distract from the issues raised.
A spokesperson said: “Our committee members have acted with courtesy and professionalism as they attempt to find out why the female complainers were failed by the Scottish National Party Government.
“The committee’s work has been routinely obstructed and numerous senior Civil Servants, including Scotland’s most senior, have been required to correct their evidence,” the spokesperson said.
Edinburgh, 24 February 2021
