‘BULLY’ ROW POLICE CHIEF GOES TO WAR
Scotland’s top officer makes extraordinary threat to ministers: If you don’t let me return to work, I’ll SUE
SCOTLAND’s police chief is threatening to take the Government to court in a bid to end his gardening leave and get back to work.
Phil Gormley has been on ‘special leave’ from his £214,000-a-year job since September amid multiple allegations of bullying.
His lawyer has now warned that the Chief Constable could take legal action – after claiming Justice Secretary Michael Matheson stepped in to block Mr Gormley’s return.
He is said to have intervened despite a decision to allow him to go back to work being unanimously agreed by the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), an independent watchdog.
The threat of a courtroom battle came as it emerged that Mr Gormley is to be summoned before MSPs investigating the debacle.
There were also claims last night that Mr Matheson’s top official, Paul Johnston, may
I must reserve my client’s [Phil Gormley] legal rights to challenge any failure to implement the [SPA] board’s decision by way of application for judicial review, should this be necessary. Any delay in doing so must not be treated as acquiescence on my client’s part. Letter from chief’s lawyer
have misled MSPs when giving evidence about the row.
Last night Labour MSP Jackie Baillie, acting convener of Holyrood’s public audit committee, said: ‘This is an astonishing set of revelations by lawyers representing the Chief Constable.
‘Not only does it appear that a senior civil servant has withheld information from the public audit committee, even more damning is the direct interference of the Secretary for Justice.
‘The SPA was set up to ensure that decisions about policing were kept at arm’s length from ministers, but that has been recklessly trampled over.’
Nationalist MSP Alex Neil, a committee member, told the Mail: ‘Mr Gormley is being invited to give evidence because it’s vital we get to the bottom of what happened, and find out who blocked his return and why.’ Mr Gormley, who has a year of his contract left, faces three bullying allegations, which he strongly denies. The Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) is investigating.
Despite this, the SPA board decided to bring Mr Gormley back from ‘special leave’.
Documents sent to the public audit committee show the chief’s lawyer, David Morgan, revealing that Mr Gormley was on his way to Scotland from England when the then SPA chairman, Andrew Flanagan, rang to tell him to go back.
Mr Morgan, who was unavailable for comment last night, wrote: ‘Any intervention by the Scottish ministers to reverse the board’s decision is ultra vires [beyond their powers] and unlawful. This decision is solely a matter for the SPA, as the statutory body tasked with the operational deployment of my client as Chief Constable.’
He added: ‘I must reserve my client’s legal rights to challenge any failure to implement the board’s decision by way of application for judicial review, should this be necessary.’
Mr Gormley’s legal fees are being paid for by the taxpayer, meaning any judicial review attempt could lead to another bill of thousands of pounds.
On November 8, outgoing SPA chief executive John Foley wrote to Mr Gormley that the board had decided to ‘rescind’ his leave and it would be ‘beneficial if you return to duty as soon as practicable’. Mr Gormley said he could return on November 10. Mr Foley stated: ‘Your return to full duties has the unanimous backing of the [SPA] board.’
A press release was drafted, stating Mr Gormley ‘will return
‘Unanimous backing of SPA’
to full duties and responsibilities from tomorrow’.
But it was never issued and he did not go back to work.
On November 14, Mr Morgan contacted Mr Flanagan, who stepped down as SPA chairman over bullying allegations.
Mr Morgan said: ‘My client was pleased with the decision of the board but concerned that his return was delayed following intervention by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice.’
At a public audit committee meeting last month, senior Scottish Government civil servant Mr Johnston – director general for justice – told MSPs Mr Flanagan was of the view that it ‘may’ have been suitable for Mr Gormley to return to work.
This prompted Mr Morgan to write to the committee, saying: ‘The publicly reported assertion by the director general that the Scottish Government’s involvement was to require that “due process” is followed accordingly needs further examination.’
Mr Neil said Mr Flanagan, Mr Foley and new SPA chairman Professor Susan Deacon would be summoned to appear before the committee. He said: ‘If Mr Johnston has not been straight with the committee, that would be very serious indeed.’
Professor Deacon said she would work ‘to ensure the SPA’s decision-making processes and wider governance arrangements meet the standards which should be expected’.
The Scottish Government said: ‘Decisions about senior staff and about retirement payments are for the SPA to make, and the Scottish Government’s interest is in requiring assurance about a proper consideration of the issues.’
THE single police force was foisted on us nearly five years ago, largely as a vehicle for SNP cost-cutting.
Former justice secretary Kenny MacAskill ignored repeated warnings over the dangers of amalgamation.
Implementation was rushed, officers’ morale was undermined and the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) became the most toothless of watchdogs.
Take a look at the calamitous state of the police service now, and you can see why Mr MacAskill’s successor retains such a low profile.
Michael Matheson has stood on the sidelines as crisis after crisis has engulfed Police Scotland – a seemingly impotent observer in the midst of chaos.
Public confidence has been shaken by leadership turmoil, which has included Chief Constable Phil Gormley being sent home amid multiple bullying allegations.
Now it emerges that the SPA board unanimously agreed on Mr Gormley’s return to work, despite the fact that investigations into those claims were still going on – itself a highly questionable decision.
Farcically, the chief was told that the plan for his comeback had been cancelled while he was en route to Scotland, apparently after it was blocked by Mr Matheson.
No doubt the minister knew the move would be highly controversial, but doesn’t the episode expose the ‘independent’ SPA watchdog as nothing more than a Nationalist puppet?
And how ironic that Mr Matheson’s first decisive intervention should result in a threat of legal action by the chief’s lawyer, who has said the shambles may trigger a judicial review.
There is now the very real prospect that the row over Mr Gormley’s future will be played out in court, at taxpayers’ expense.
For the thousands of rank-and-file officers continuing with their duties, frequently putting their personal safety on the line, it is hard to imagine a more profoundly demoralising situation.
Then there is the furore over the ‘golden goodbye’ for former SPA chief executive John Foley – a thoroughly undeserved reward given his shambolic mismanagement of the quango.
The Scottish parliament’s public audit committee is right to summon most of the protagonists in this growing scandal to give evidence before MSPs.
But when will Mr Matheson personally answer for the grave damage inflicted upon a prized public service while he and his colleagues watched the unfolding disaster?