On the brink, ‘bullying’ boss of police watchdog
THE chairman of Scotland’s beleaguered police watchdog is fighting for his job after a powerful Holyrood committee said he had ‘behaved inappropriately’. Andrew Flanagan faces allegations of bullying and presiding over a secrecy culture at the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), which has been compared to the Kremlin.
MSPs on the public audit committee have written to Justice Secretary Michael Matheson raising ‘very serious concerns’ about the way the SPA is run.
The highly critical letter comes a day after former board member Moi Ali, who resigned after raising concerns over transparency at the organisation, gave evidence to MSPs accusing Mr Flanagan of bullying her, which he denies.
The SPA has been criticised for holding some meetings in private and withholding documents from the public ahead of meetings.
Meanwhile, Miss Ali said she was told by former SPA chairman Vic Emery during a job appraisal meeting that she had been described as a ‘one-trick diversity pony’ by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS).
The SPA said it was unable to comment, while Mr Emery failed to respond to requests for comment.
Labour MSP Jackie Baillie, the public audit committee’s acting convener, said it ‘considers Mr Flanagan’s behaviour to be unacceptable on occasion’.
The committee’s letter states ‘it appears that Mr Flanagan treated Miss Ali in an inappropriate manner, to the degree that she felt obliged to resign from the board’.
The letter states the SPA’s ‘problems’ lie with transparency and accountability and criticised decisions to hold private ‘members’ meetings’ to discuss governance without producing public notes.
The letter also stresses the need to improve diversity on the board, as it is ‘male-dominated’.
Ex-SPA board member Douglas Yates said Mr Flanagan ‘is under pressure’, adding: ‘He could have done things differently, but his focus is on the budget deficit.’
Scottish Tory justice spokesman Douglas Ross said: ‘Andrew Flanagan’s time is up. We need to restore faith in the SPA and it seems now that can only be achieved if the chair is replaced.’
An SPA spokesman said: ‘The SPA is ready to adapt its approach at the next public board meeting.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said ‘openness and transparency are of the utmost importance to a public body such as the SPA’.
An HMICS spokesman said no one at the body ‘has at any time described Moi Ali as a “one-trick diversity pony”. We consider this language to be offensive.’