Scotland’s most senior civil servant has said she was “not aware” of any changes in working practices that arose as a result of concerns raised by staff around the behaviour of ministers.
Permanent Secretary Leslie Evans’ admission comes three weeks after she declined to comment when asked by committee member Murdo Fraser if female civil servants were advised not to be alone with Alex Salmond.
Mr Fraser, who sits on the Holyrood committee investigating the Scottish Government’s botched handling of harassment claims against former first minister Alex Salmond, said he wished to pick up on an “issue left hanging” at the end of Ms Evans’ first evidence session last month.
Instead, the Conservative MSP asked Ms Evans if, “without going into any individual cases”, she was aware of any changes in working practices as a result of concerns expressed by staff around behaviour, including the behaviour of ministers.
Ms Evans said: “No. I am not aware of those changes. I wouldn’t necessarily be aware of those changes unless I was particularly close to that office.
“That’s not to say that changes don’t take place but I’m not aware of any specifics. I’m not sure if we’re talking about specifics but I appreciate we don’t necessarily want to get into those.”
Claims that female officials were advised not to work alone with Mr Salmond emerged during his criminal trial when he was acquitted of 13 charges of sexual assault. Mr Salmond has denied that such guidance existed.
That’s not to say that changes don’t take place but I’m not aware of any specifics. I’m not sure if we’re talking about specifics but I appreciate we don’t necessarily want to get into those.
Permanent Secretary Leslie Evans
The country’s most senior civil servant also addressed evidence provided by trade unions at an earlier committee meeting, around the level of concerns raised with them, which Mr Fraser said seemed to be “very high” in the Scottish Government compared to other parts of the civil service.
Ms Evans said she found it “quite puzzling”, stating there had only been “only a handful” of formal complaints over the past 10-13 years.
Following further questioning from Mr Fraser on whether she had personally experienced “bullying behaviour”, Ms Evans admitted she had been shouted at by ministers while working for the civil service.
However, she said she did not remember Mr Salmond shouting at her.
Committee member Alex Cole-Hamilton of the Lib Dems previously said Ms Evans should return to the committee to answer the question on whether female civil servants were advised not to be alone with Alex Salmond, as it allows MSPs to understand the context in which the Scottish Government’s new harassment procedure was drafted at the end of 2017.
The new procedure contained a “unique” provision that allowed retrospective complaints to be made, in that “former ministers” were covered by the procedure.
Mr Salmond became the subject of historical complaints dating from when he was first minister, shortly after the new policy was introduced.
During her first evidence session last month, Ms Evans rejected the suggestion that the Scottish Government’s anti-harassment policy was “designed to get Alex Salmond”.
The inquiry’s remit does not allow MSPs to ask about Mr Salmond’s criminal case but will instead examine the Scottish Government’s handling of the civil judicial review that saw the former first minister successfully challenge the Scottish Government in the courts.
Mr Salmond won his case after it was ruled in the Court of Session that the Scottish Government’s internal harassment inquiry was “unlawful” and “tainted with apparent bias”.