Holyrood staff are warned to record meetings

SCOTLAND’S top civil servant has ordered a crackdown on unminuted meetings following the secrecy row over the country’s former police chief.

No record was kept of key meetings as Justice Secretary Michael Matheson blocked a move to bring Phil Gormley back from gardening leave, amid multiple bullying probes.

The Mail revealed last month that Britain’s chief civil servant, Sir Jeremy Heywood, had been urged to investigate the Scottish Government’s role.

As a result, Leslie Evans, Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government, has reminded staff of the need to ‘ensure that appropriate records’ are taken.

Tory peer Lord Forsyth had called on Sir Jeremy to probe whether strict guidelines were breached when minutes were not taken.

In a letter to Lord Forsyth, Sir Jeremy said ‘officials supporting a meeting between the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Justice and the then chair of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) judged that no formal note of the meeting was required’.

This was because officials believed ‘those present were clear about the follow-up actions’, and that those were a ‘matter for the independent SPA rather than the Government’.

Sir Jeremy said: ‘The Scottish Government’s Permanent Secretary... is satisfied there is nothing further that might have been recorded beyond that which has been put in the public domain.’

Last night, Lord Forsyth said: ‘I welcome the Permanent Secretary’s reminder to civil servants of their duties under the Civil Service Code, but it looks like closing the stable door after the horses have bolted. The explanation given for past failure is deeply worrying.’

Mr Gormley, who denied all the allegations against him, quit last month.

Scottish Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: ‘The fact is, by failing to take minutes, the SNP has destroyed any claim to open or transparent government.’

‘Explanation for failures is deeply worrying’