Inquiry told police were asked ‘hypothetical questions’
The Scottish Government asked Police Scotland about the criminal process around accusations of historical sexual harassment while it was developing the policy which resulted in an investigation into former first minister Alex Salmond, it has been revealed. a letter to the Holyrood inquiry into the botched handling of allegations against the former first minister, Deputy Chief Constable Fiona Taylor, revealed Police Scotland was contacted on a number of occasions by the government seeking answers to “hypothetical questions” which were“predicated upon a specific set of circumstances…rather than development of a generic procedure ”.
The letter appears to underin mine the stance of civil service Permanent Secretary, Leslie Evans, that concerns about alleged misconduct by Mr Salmond had not influenced the design of the new government policy to deal with complaints about ex-ministers.
It also reveals that the scottish Government did not report the allegations directly to Police Scotland but went to the crown Office.
DCC Taylor said the government had first contacted Police Scotland on December 5, 2017, which was followed by a meeting and then a series of email and telephone exchanges through to August 2018.
She said: “The initial email contact indicated that advice was sought on the scottish government( S G) approach to sexual harassment procedures following the# me too movement, and, sg obligations in response to allegations made by staff or former staff which may constitute a criminal offence.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government has confirmed to the Committee that Police Scotland was consulted on generic issues relating to the handling of complaints and sources of support for complainers.
“At this time the Scottish Government was dealing with internal employment matters, not a criminal investigation, and our HR staff are experienced in carrying out investigations on sensitive issues within an employment setting. “In november 2020, taking legal advice into account we referred the allegations to the Crown Office for on ward transmission to the Police.”