The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Matheson insists he did not exceed his authority
Justice secretary asked watchdog to ‘reconsider’ Gormley decision
Justice Secretary Michael Matheson has insisted he did not exceed his authority when he asked police watchdogs to “reconsider” their decision to allow Chief Constable Phil Gormley to return to work while misconduct allegations against him were being investigated.
Mr Matheson has come under fire for the move, with Mr Gormley’s lawyer insisting there was “no lawful basis” for the justice secretary to intervene after the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) unanimously agreed to end a period of special leave and allow him to return to duty.
But Mr Matheson blasted the SPA’s handling, saying key parties – including the independent Police and Investigations Review Commissioner (Pirc), which is currently looking at three claims of gross misconduct against Mr Gormley – had not been consulted.
He said he was told about the SPA’s decision to reinstate the chief constable by its then chairman Andrew Flanagan on November 9 2017 – two days after it had been unanimously agreed by the board and the day before the senior officer was due to return to work.
At this point he said Police Scotland’s senior command team had not been informed.
In a statement to MSPs, Mr Matheson insisted there were “clear deficiencies” in the SPA’s decision-making process that were “completely unacceptable”.
He said: “To have stood by and allowed the SPA to implement that decision without asking them to revisit the decision… I believe would not have been acceptable.
“That is why I asked them reconsider it and they did so.”
Mr Gormley, who denies the allegations against him, had been told he was being allowed to return to duty, and to was on his way back to Scotland when he was told the decision had been reviewed.
Mr Matheson said the Scottish Government had not been informed the SPA had “actually already written to Mr Gormley to invite him to return”.
In a letter to the justice secretary, Mr Gormley’s lawyer David Morgan stated: “There is no lawful basis for the Scottish Government’s intervention or interference with the lawful decision of the SPA, as the sole statutory body tasked with the operational deployment of the chief constable.”
Mr Matheson said that “even though ministers do not normally become involved” in decisions by organisations such as the SPA, such bodies must still “retain the confidence of ministers”.
He insisted: “All the Government’s actions have been focused upon ensuring due process and fairness to all parties.”