Questions over police boss role in colleague’s £173k job
THE chairman of the Scottish Police Authority is embroiled in a fresh controversy after it emerged that one of his colleagues was given a £173,000 a year job with Police Scotland.
In August, the SPA’s Andrew Flanagan said he was “delighted” to unveil David Page as Police Scotland’s first director of corporate services, strategy and change. However, it has now been confirmed that Flanagan and Page were both board members of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) at the time of the hire. The appointments panel chaired by Flanagan also allowed Page to apply for the lucrative job after the deadline.
Gerry Crawley, a regional secretary at the trade union Unison, said: “It is vital the highest standards are maintained in any appointment process and that the integrity of the SPA recruitment processes are maintained and not open to question.”
As the oversight body for the single force, the SPA plays a key role in the appointments process for senior staff and helps set the Police Scotland budget. However, the SPA has been criticised for the quality of its financial scrutiny and its commitment to transparency.
Page was brought in last year as part of the SPA’s attempt at overhauling policing. Announcing the Page appointment, Flanagan said at the time: “I am delighted that we have secured David Page for this new and key role... He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience.”
Page had been at Standard Life and Royal Bank of Scot- land and his post was the most senior civilian staff role ever created in Scottish policing. In the same press release, the SPA added: “The appointment of Mr Page completes a process of significant renewal of the Police Scotland leadership team led by SPA chair Andrew Flanagan.”
However, the SPA did not mention that the two men knew each other from being non-executive directors at CICA. A spokesperson for CICA said Flanagan was still in post, but Page had resigned and would be leaving soon.
An SPA spokesman said: “David Page applied for the role in the normal way and went through the same process as all other candidates. From the outset Andrew Flanagan made other panel members aware of his knowledge of David. The Chair also abstained from expressing his views about David Page until after all other members had made their decision. David was the unanimous choice of the interview panel which was made up of two other SPA members, the Chief Constable and the Deputy Chief Constable Designate.”