Bullying investigation mounted at police college

An independent investigation has been launched at the Scottish Police College after a survey revealed more than a quarter of staff claim to have been bullied.

Justice secretary Kenny 
MacAskill said the allegations were taken “extremely seriously” and independent experts were being brought in by the Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA) to determine the causes.

Bosses at the Tulliallan college commissioned an anonymous survey of employees after the trade union Unison made allegations of systematic bullying.

It asked employees if they had been bullied or harassed by a manager or colleague at the college. Of those who answered, 28.2 per cent (46 people) said they had been bullied.

When asked if there was a culture of bullying at the college, 13.1 per cent (21 people) thought this was the case while 86.9 per cent disagreed.

More than half of all respondents (52.9 per cent) described it as being a “great place to work”. Just 6.4 per cent thought the college was a “poor place to work”.

Mr MacAskill said: “The government takes bullying at work extremely seriously and I am delighted that action has been taken to investigate by the SPSA.

“I have the utmost faith in those currently dealing with the matter to make sure it is 
addressed.”