Questions over new compensation for ex-civil service leader
LESLIE Evans was paid “compensation” by the Scottish Government after she had left her role as the head of the civil service, The Herald on Sunday can reveal.
The terms of the former permanent secretary’s exit from St Andrew’s House have been shrouded in mystery.
Her last day in the office was on December 31, 2021. However, she effectively remained in post until the end of March, taking three months of “outstanding annual leave”.
However, details of payments, released under Freedom of Information, reveal that Ms Evans was then “compensated” to cover the “three-month unpaid waiting period” required of senior civil servants when they leave government.
It is not known how much compensation Ms Evans was paid, but it was agreed “subject to consultation” with the UK Government’s Cabinet Office.
Her seven years in the post were tumultuous. Ms Evans was a key figure in the Alex Salmond affair, overseeing the disastrous internal probe into sexual misconduct claims against the former First Minister.
Mr Salmond successfully challenged the process in a judicial review, showing that it had been “tainted by apparent bias” as the investigating officer had prior contact with one of the women who had complained about him.
That resulted in the Court of Session ordering the Government to pay him £512,000 in costs.
An investigation by a Holyrood committee into the unlawful probe singled out Ms Evans for criticism, saying that she was one of only a “few people who had been aware of the prior contact of the Investigating Officer”.
And despite that, she had prolonged the court case by not telling the Government’s lawyers. MSPs on the committee said this “individual failing” was “as significant as the general corporate failing.”
Despite the blunders on her watch, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon stood by Ms Evans throughout and refused to sack her.
A spokesman for Mr Salmond told The Herald on Sunday: “The Parliamentary Committee unanimously found that Leslie Evans as Permanent Secretary was not just corporately but individually responsible for the ‘prolonged, expensive and unsuccessful defence’ of the Judicial Review of her procedure which the Court of Session found to be ‘unlawful’, ‘unfair’ and ‘tainted by apparent bias’.
“The Committee said that those responsible should be held ‘accountable’.
“However, instead of asking for her resignation, the Scottish Government seems to have afforded her every possible financial advantage on her retirement. The question is why?”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “As previously confirmed, Leslie Evans left the Civil Service as planned upon completion of her contract. Taking account of accrued leave, Ms Evans’s final day at work was December 31, 2021 and she was paid for remaining outstanding leave as at March 31, 2022.”