Officials allege ‘culture of fear’ under Salmond
OFFICIALS raised concerns over bullying by Alex Salmond’s office while he was First Minister, documents show.
Civil servants warned a decade ago that they were operating under a ‘culture of fear’.
The FDA union, which represents managers and professionals in public service, has disclosed that since the ‘inception’ of the Scottish parliament, they have dealt with ‘informal and formal complaints’ against ministers.
In a submission to Holyrood’s inquiry into the Scottish Government’s handling of harassment complaints, officials said members had ‘reported concerns of bullying or inappropriate behaviour of ministers... of varying political colours’.
But FDA Scotland’s general secretary Dave Penman highlighted particular issues within the Scottish Government in 2010, when Mr Salmond was First Minister.
He said ‘the culture within the exFirst Minister’s office and other ministerial offices in relation to bullying behaviour became a concern’.
He added: ‘Some civil servants expressed to us that they were operating in a culture of fear... they did not trust SG [Scottish Government] to handle complaints effectively or to ensure confidentiality’.
Mr Penman said that, in particular, ‘members in the former First Minister’s office indicated that they felt isolated and out of the policy protection of the rest of the SG’.
The union does not explicitly accuse Mr Salmond of bullying.
The inquiry, which begins next week, will examine the Government’s botched 2018 probe into complaints against Mr Salmond, which led to him being handed £512,250 of taxpayers’ money. In March, he was cleared of 13 sexual assault charges.
Last night, Mr Salmond declined to comment. The Scottish Government said: ‘We welcome the opportunity which the parliamentary inquiry will bring to address issues raised.’