SPA boss waited six months to start probe
A SENIOR member of Scotland’s police watchdog triggered a whistleblowing probe six months after learning of controversial redundancy payouts, a tribunal heard yesterday.
Dr Nicola Marchant, former deputy chairman of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), said she knew of concern from finance official Amy McDonald about the ‘golden handshake’ deals.
But they were contained in a grievance Mrs McDonald raised about the handling of her redundancy, and Dr Marchant chose to focus on that dispute on the advice of a human resources adviser.
A tribunal in Glasgow heard Dr Marchant knew about the payments in November 2016 but the advice was ‘quite clear’ they should not form part of the grievance inquiry.
Dr Marchant, who quit the SPA this year, said that in May last year she contacted its audit committee chairman David Hume and told him to ‘instigate the investigation’.
This came after Mrs McDonald’s solicitor wrote to the quango saying her client had serious concerns and could not sign off the organisation’s accounts. The following month – June last year – Mrs McDonald launched the tribunal claim.
Gary Devlin, one of the accountants called in to probe the claims of financial wrongdoing, said his firm, Scott-Moncrieff, had been given an initial fee of £27,000 by the SPA, but this was later almost doubled because the investigation took longer than expected. Last week, the Mail revealed the firm’s report had criticised the SPA for ‘poor governance’ and ‘lack of transparency’.
Mrs MacDonald launched the tribunal claim because she believes she was sidelined when she voiced concern over alleged misuse of funds.
Scott-Moncrieff said Mrs McDonald, 44, had highlighted a ‘number of areas of poor governance and a lack of transparency within the SPA’.
Earlier this month, she said she was treated with ‘hostility’ after raising concerns over Deputy Chief Constable Rose Fitzpatrick having a £53,000 tax bill paid and getting £67,000 to help move house.
Mrs McDonald is seeking compensation for ‘injury to hurt feelings’ because of her treatment after alleging ‘financial wrongdoing’.
The tribunal, before employment judge Susan Walker, is expected to conclude today.