Top civil servant at centre of bias claim
SCOTLAND’S top civil servant is facing questions over her neutrality after referring to Brexit as the ‘biggest challenge’ facing Britain since the Second World War.
Permanent Secretary Leslie Evans has been accused of testing strict impartiality rules ‘to the limit’ after making political comments during a speech to business leaders.
She told them that Brexit was seen by many as ‘the biggest challenge facing the UK since World War Two’.
In another comment, interpreted by some as indicating that she believes Scotland will split from the UK, she said ‘we know that devolution remains a journey, not a destination’.
The code of conduct for all civil servants states that they must never act in a way that ‘unjustifiably favours or discriminates against particular individuals or interests’. It also states they must not act in a way that is ‘determined by party political considerations’.
The comments were made by Mrs Evans in a speech to the Institute of Directors’ annual convention, which was then published by the Scottish Government on its website.
Scottish Conservative MSP Donald Cameron said: ‘Many Scots will read these comments and question whether our civil servants really are neutral when it comes to issues of independence and Brexit. I hope Leslie Evans clarifies her position immediately.’
Nicola Sturgeon has said there must be another referendum on independence by the end of next year.
She also revealed that work is being done on updating the Scottish Government’s ‘independence prospectus’.
In the address to business leaders, Mrs Evans raised a number of concerns about the impact of Brexit.
She said: ‘I appreciate the business community is feeling the bite of this ongoing uncertainty – and if it is any consolation, so is the civil service.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The Permanent Secretary was quite rightly speaking about the challenges faced by the Scottish Government
and Scottish businesses in dealing with continuing uncertainty.
‘Her observations in no way express any personal opinion. The Permanent Secretary takes her obligations under the code extremely seriously.’
It is not the first time a Permanent Secretary’s neutrality has been questioned. In 2011, Mrs Evans’s predecessor, Sir Peter Housden, was accused of giving partisan briefings to employees.
A leaked transcript showed Sir Peter stating the plans by the Tory and Lib Dem coalition to devolve limited tax powers to Holyrood – opposed by the SNP at the time – were ‘lost in the mists of time’. He also urged the Scottish Government to ‘embark on a journey of constitutional reform’.