Scottish Government report into harassment complaints against Alex Salmond to remain secret

The former permanent secretary’s report that judged Alex Salmond had sexually harassed two Scottish Government officials during his time as first minister is unlikely to ever be made public following a ruling by the Scottish Information Commissioner.

Leslie Evans’s report into allegations of harassment against the former first minister sparked the collapse of the relationship between Mr Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon and almost led to the end of the current SNP leader’s political career.

It was ‘reduced’ by the Court of Session in 2019 following a judicial review brought by Mr Salmond after ministers admitted procedural flaws meant the investigation into the allegations had been “tainted by apparent bias” and was therefore unfair and unlawful.

What followed was two years of a bitter, dramatic parliamentary inquiry into the botched process and Ms Sturgeon putting her political future in the hands of the independent adviser on the ministerial code.

Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond's relationship fell apart over harassment complaints made against the former first minister.

The First Minister was found by MSPs to have misled Parliament, but was cleared by James Hamilton of the same offence, narrowly surviving.

Mr Salmond was also acquitted of sexual offence charges in a high-profile court case in 2020.

In September 2020, The Scotsman had requested the release of any official report resulting from the Scottish Government’s harassment complaints procedure under which the former first minister was investigated.

Ministers initially claimed the report did not exist and were rapped on the knuckles by the Scottish Information Commissioner in May last year, shortly after the 2021 Holyrood election won by the SNP.

The latest ruling follows ministers claiming they could not release the report in any fashion, with or without redactions, due to court orders following the judicial review process.

In a decision notice, commissioner Daren Fitzhenry agreed with submissions from the Government that disclosing the information would likely lead to the identification of the individuals involved and, therefore, breaching the court order.

Mr Fitzhenry also agreed releasing the report would lead to potential future complainants coming forward under the ministers’ new procedure.

He said: “The commissioner is satisfied, in the circumstances, that disclosure of the information would make it much less likely that those participating in such an investigation, such as complainers and witnesses, would be willing to provide information about concerns, to the substantial prejudice of the authority’s ability to investigate matters concerning the conduct of persons.”

The commissioner also said the public interest in allowing ministers to investigate complaints outweighed the public interest in transparency around the complaints.

He said: “The commissioner also accepts that there is a strong public interest in ensuring that future complainers are not deterred from making complaints of improper conduct and that the authority continues to be able to ascertain whether individuals are responsible for improper conduct, albeit under new procedures.

"It is important, with a view to ensuring high standards of conduct are observed, that the authority is able perform these investigative functions effectively.”

Extracts of the report have previously been published in ‘Break Up: How Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon Went to War’ by journalists David Clegg and Kieran Andrews.

However, the Government has never published the report itself – a decision now likely to never be reversed.

A spokesperson for the Government said it handled all Freedom of Information requests in line with the FOI (Scotland) Act.

They said: “In this case, the commissioner found the Government complied with its obligations under the legislation.

"The Scottish Government notes that decision.”

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