Tag: Hamilton report

Salmond Inquiry: Lessons will be learned, says Swinney

Scottish Government comments on Committee report

The Scottish Government says lessons will be learned from the Scottish Government’s handling of harassment complaints, following the publication yesterday of the parliamentary inquiry’s report.

Responding to the findings of the Committee on the Scottish Government’s Handling of Harassment Complaints (SGHHC), Deputy First Minister John Swinney said it was clear that the women who had raised complaints had been let down.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “I welcome the report of the Committee, which, alongside the independent report produced by James Hamilton and externally led review by Laura Dunlop QC, will assist the Scottish Government’s in learning lessons for the future.

“I also welcome the Committee’s acknowledgement that the Scottish Government was motivated by doing the right thing – creating a culture and procedure for investigating any claims of harassment.

“I agree with the Committee’s finding that James Hamilton’s report is the most appropriate place to address the question of whether or not the First Minister breached the Ministerial Code. He found there was no breach.

“The Scottish Government has acknowledged that it made mistakes and that these led to the Judicial Review being conceded, and I know that this had a real, and damaging, impact for the women who raised the complaints. We have apologised for this and we do so unreservedly again today.

“I remain absolutely determined that the Scottish Government should ensure this does not happen again and that together we create a culture where these behaviours do not arise.

“Given the timing of the report it is not possible to respond fully and in detail, not least because the three reports have overlapping areas of interest, and some recommendations are in conflict with those in other reports.

“Together, all three reports highlight a range of important issues and provide the basis for improvement work which now be taken forward in consultation with others including the Parliament, Trades Unions, and those with lived experience.

“The Scottish Government will carefully consider the recommendations from the Committee, alongside the other two review reports, in order to put improvements and an implementation plan in place.”

Mr Swinney chose not to address the committee’s contention that the First Minister mislead parliament, referring instead to Mr Hamilton’s findings.

But the Hamilton report clearly states: “It is for the Scottish Parliament to decide whether they were in fact misled”.

The committee DID decide … and found the First Minister guilty.

Mr Hamilton also expressed ‘deep frustration’ at redactions made to his report.

In a note accompanying the published report he stated: “A redacted report that effectively erases the role of any such individual in the matters investigated in the report cannot be understood by those reading it, and presents an incomplete and even at times misleading version of what happened.

“It is therefore impossible to give an accurate description of some of the relevant events dealth with in the report while at the same time complying with the court orders.

“I am deeply frustrated that applicable court orders will have the effect of preventing the full publication of a report which fulfils my remit and which I believe it would be in the public interest to publish.”

The Conservatives, the biggest opposition party at Holyrood, initiated a vote of No Confidence in the First Minister, but with the Greens supporting the government – and both Labour and the Lib Dems abstaining – the Tory motion was doomed to failure.

Nicola Sturgeon will face her final First Minister’s Questions session of this parliament later today; I wonder what the questions will be about!

Then, the next test comes in six weeks time when Scotland goes to the polls in the Holyrood elections.

Report of the Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints | Scottish Parliament

Hamilton report: Sturgeon clears first hurdle

Ministerial Code report published: First Minister cleared of code breach

The independent report by Mr James Hamilton on the First Minister’s self-referral under the Scottish Ministerial Code has been published.

Mr Hamilton is a former Director of Public Prosecutions in Ireland and has been an independent adviser on the Code since January 2013, having been appointed by Alex Salmond when he was First Minister.

He was asked to assess whether there had been any breach of the Code by the First Minister, the nature of any such breach and, if a breach had occurred, to advise on the appropriate remedy or sanction.

Mr Hamilton looked at the following:

  • the First Minister’s meeting with Geoff Aberdein on 29 March 2018, and the meetings / telephone calls with Mr Salmond on 2 and 23 April, 7 June and 14 and 18 July 2018
  • whether the First Minister misled Parliament about these meetings
  • whether the First Minister attempted to influence the conduct of the investigation
  • whether the First Minister broke the code by continuing with the judicial review.

On each point he found the First Minister had not breached the code, saying in his conclusions at para 18.2 of the report: “I am of the opinion that the First Minister did not breach the provisions of the Ministerial Code in respect of any of these matters.”

Mr Hamilton’s report, formally commissioned by Deputy First Minister John Swinney, was delivered to the Scottish Government yesterday. In line with the First Minister’s commitment to Parliament, the report has been published on the day of receipt.

The report is published in full, except for information that needs to be excluded to comply with court orders in force to protect the identity of complainers. In a covering note to the report Mr Hamilton has acknowledged that redactions will be necessary.

Commenting, Mr Swinney said: “I want to thank Mr Hamilton for his thorough and impartial assessment of the facts. 

“People can read the report for themselves, but the rigour and independence of his investigation is clear.

“This report is the formal outcome of the self-referral under the Ministerial Code made by the First Minister on 13 January 2019. I hope that everyone will now accept that Mr Hamilton’s conclusions are comprehensive and evidence-based.”

Mr Hamilton’s report said Ms Sturgeon had given an “incomplete narrative of events” to MSPs but he said this was not deliberate, rather a “genuine failure of recollection”.

While Mr Hamilton’s report relieves some of the pressure on First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, a Holyrood committee is expected to take a very different view when it finally publishes it’s findings this morning.

It’s parliament’s responsibility to hold the government to account, and a cross-party committee of MSPs has been scrutinising the government’s handling of the complaints against former First Minister Alex Salmond.

The committee’s work has been hampered throughout by obstructions placed in their way by the government and the Crown Office, but their final report is expected to be highly critical of Ms Sturgeon’s recollection of events. The report is likely to accuse the First Minister of misleading their investigation – that’s parliament-speak for lying.

The Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints will formally publish its full report at 8am.

In a pre-emptive strike, Ms Sturgeon has already dismissed the committee’s report as ‘partisan’.

The Scottish Tories also plan to hold a vote of no confidence in the First Minister today, but this seems doomed to failure as the SNP Government has the support of the Scottish Greens.

When all this is over, it’s full steam ahead to May’s elections – and it remains to be seen whether any of the above will make any difference at all to voting intentions. Was this a deliberate attempt to subvert our democracy – or just a Salmond Sturgeon stooshie of interest only to political anoraks and conspiracy theorists?

Voters, it’s over to you …

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