BACK OFF, MINISTER
Police tsar accuses Government of improper interference in her work S
cotland’s police watchdog has accused the Scottish Government of interfering in her work.
Police Investigations and Review Commissioner Kate Frame had to warn one of Justice Secretary Michael Matheson’s senior aides to back off after he attempted to persuade her to delay the publication of a damning report.
In emails, seen by the Post, she says: “I was more than a little surprised.”
My perception of your remarks is of governmental interference with my independence – Commissioner Kate Frame to Justice Secretary’s senior aide
Scotland’s independent police watchdog accused the Scottish Government of trying to interfere with her work in scathing emails seen by the Sunday Post.
Kate Frame, the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner ( PIRC), had to warn one of Justice Secretary Michael Matheson’s senior civil servants to back off after he tried to persuade her to delay publication of a damning report.
Ms Frame’s withering response to Donald McGillivray, the Scottish Government’s Deputy Director of Policing, can be revealed as pressure mounts on Mr Matheson and his cabinet colleagues over attempts to influence the work of independent public bodies.
Ms Frame responded to the civil servant’s suggestion that her report might be delayed by writing: “My perception of your remarks is g ov e r n m e n t a l i n t e r f e re n c e w i t h m y independence.”
The emails will heap pressure on the Justice Secretary after he was accused of pressurising the Scottish Police Authority ( SPA) into reversing a decision to allow Chief Constable Phil Gormley to return to work.
Yesterday, Scottish Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, Daniel Johnson, said: “This is a shocking revelation of attempted government interference in a supposedly independent investigation. The Justice Secretary has already misled Parliament about his dealings with the SPA, calling into question his position. Now we find his department has tried to interfere with a PIRC investigation as well.
“It is h a rd to conceive how Mr Ma t h e s o n can justify this and, if he cannot, he must resign.”
The emails between Mr McGillivray and Ms Frame late last year involved the imminent publication of her report into the SPA’s handling of complaints against senior officers.
The PIRC report found the complaint handling procedures at the SPA, Scotland’s police oversight body, lacked clarity and transparency and were “neither effective nor efficient”.
Mr McGillivray suggested delaying the publication due to ongoing inquiries into bullying complaints against Mr Gormley – despite the report not mentioning the chief constable or specific complaints. He queried the timing of its publication in three
emails sent over the course of a month to Ms Frame. In one, he refers to Mr Gormley’s legal team, saying: “I’m conscious that the CC’s lawyers are very active. Is there a risk that publication of a report that has some connection to the points that his lawyers may be considering could increase the risk to the whole process?
“I know the new regime at SPA has an open door to improvement around the complaints process and wonder if influencing through that route might carry less risk until the CC issue has moved on a bit, especially if the
I wonder if influencing through that route might carry less risk until the CC issue has moved on a bit?
– Civil servant Don McGillivray