Sturgeon faces probe over her use of notes in secrecy row
NICOLA Sturgeon is facing investigation over claims her handwritten notes dictating government policy are routinely destroyed.
The National Records of Scotland has been urged to act on concerns raised about civil servants destroying written instructions from the First Minister and using an SNP email account to communicate with her.
Tory MSP Donald Cameron claimed the practice – which is different from the way documents are dealt with by Whitehall departments – could be a breach of the Public Records (Scotland) Act 2011. He also claimed that it could hamper public scrutiny. But Miss Sturgeon said yesterday there is ‘absolutely no substance’ to any suggestions she is avoiding scrutiny.
The Scottish Government said the policy on handling notes in ministerial offices was introduced in 2004-05, when Labour was in administration and Jack McConnell was First Minister.
Mr Cameron said: ‘By using a party email account and destroying handwritten instructions, Nicola Sturgeon’s government is putting every imaginable hurdle in the way to limit transparency and keep her decisions secret.
‘This is an unacceptable and unprecedented attempt to avoid scrutiny and it simply cannot be allowed to continue any longer. That’s why I’ve written to the Keeper of the Records today to ask that he investigates this as a matter of urgency.
‘Even for this SNP Government, with its dubious record on transparency, this is a new low.
‘It cannot be considered business as usual to treat the historical record of government at will and it raises the very serious question – what does Nicola Sturgeon have to hide?’
Officials admitted last month that Miss Sturgeon uses her SNP email account, which is not covered by Freedom of Information legislation, to conduct government business.
She previously told MSPs that ‘most of my conduct of government business is on paper’.
Miss Sturgeon said: ‘I receive paper boxes, not email boxes, and I make handwritten notes.’
Concerns were raised that her handwritten notes will be unobtainable through Freedom of Information legislation if they are routinely destroyed.
But Miss Sturgeon explained that the notes are typed up into emails – which were ‘fully open to FoI legislation’ – and denied this was done to avoid the content of her memos being seen.
She said: ‘Just to be very clear here, when I write a handwritten note on a government submission, what happens is that my private office transcribes that note into an email that is then retained within the Government in electronic form and fully open to FoI legislation.
‘There is absolutely nothing different to what’s happened previously or untoward in any way and I think opposition parties should stop trying to suggest otherwise.’
She added: ‘If I write a handwritten note, my private office transcribes that note into an email. Otherwise, how would the policy official know what instruction I was giving on a government submission?
‘That’s how the system works, it’s how I have dealt with government papers ever since I was in government in 2007 and, as we know, that policy has been in place since 2004-05. So my immediate predecessors as first ministers used the same system and any insinuation – and I think it is an insinuation – that somehow I have changed the rules or created a system to try to evade scrutiny has absolutely no substance whatsoever.’
A spokesman for National Records of Scotland said: ‘The Keeper of the Records of Scotland has today received a letter about record-keeping at the Scottish Government. The Keeper will now consider his response.’ The Scottish Government said the policy was introduced in 2004-05 when the then Scottish Executive moved to an electronic records system.
A spokesman said: ‘The Scottish Government is confident we comply with all records management requirements. The Scottish Government’s records management policy is submitted to the Keeper of the Records and is reviewed annually, or sooner if changes to the law require it, as set out under the Public Records (Scotland) Act 2011.’
A spokesman for the First Minister said: ‘The Tories’ actions are straight out of the Trump playbook – they know they are losing the argument on the issues that really matter to people so are resorting to throwing mud in the hope that some of it will stick.’
‘Unacceptable and unprecedented’
‘Straight out of the Trump playbook’