Ministers to be named in complaints

Scottish ministers will be named as part of a change to the Scottish Government’s complaints procedure, the Deputy First Minister John Swinney announced.

Under the new procedures, ministers who are subject to complaints from civil servants will be named, with decision reports and judgments published in instances where complaints are upheld.

Any reports published as a result of a complaint will be redacted to ensure the complainer cannot be identified.

For those where the complaint is not upheld, a minister’s name and the outcome will be published for six months on the Scottish Government’s website.

Decisions made in complaint procedures which have already concluded will not be published, the Scottish Government has said.

Under the new procedure, the first minister will be informed of a complaint about a current minister, including the name of the minister, at the outset of the process, while they will not be told the identity of a former minister who is the subject of a complaint.