by Democrat reporter
Angela Constance has been found to have breached the ministerial code twice but will remain in her role as Justice Secretary, the Scottish Daily Express reports.
Usually, when a Minister breaks the rules they either resign or are sacked but John Swinney is standing by his key ally who will continue in Cabinet.
For weeks the First Minister has insisted that he didn’t believe Ms Constance had broken the ministerial code, and refused to refer her to the independent advisers.
However, they instead launched their own probe and in a humiliating outcome for Mr Swinney, found that she did in fact do so.
However, they ruled that she did so “inadvertently” and didn’t mean to mislead MSPs, despite it having this effect.
The First Minister has decided that his colleague must make a statement to Parliament as well as receive a letter of reprove, setting out what she did wrong.
The advisers concluded that “the phrase used by Ms Constance that Professor Jay shared her views had the potential to mislead Parliament and should have been corrected in the same terms used in the National Strategic Group minutes as soon as possible after Professor Jay communicated her views on 26 September.
Ms Constance told MSPs to vote against calls for an independent inquiry into grooming gangs because Professor Jay agreed that one shouldn’t be launched, even though the expert has never said this. She wrote to the government demanding a correction, with this not going through the proper channels as the official report was left unchanged.
The advisers said that “the two breaches were inadvertent without any deliberation or intention to mislead.” They added that the sanctions should be “at the lower end of the spectrum provided for in the Code and therefore does not call for anything beyond a reprove which should be formal and in writing accompanied by a statement to Parliament by Ms Constance.”
Mr Swinney said: “I greatly value the important and impartial role of the Independent Advisers on the Ministerial Code and I am grateful to the Advisers for concluding their investigation promptly.
“I set up this system of Independent Advisers so that they could call in any issue they fell needs to be examined under their own authority and make recommendations as they see fit. They have exercised their ability to examine this case and make recommendations on sanctions. That provides real assurance that there is appropriate, independent scrutiny of Ministers.
John Swinney – “I therefore accept the Independent Advisers’ conclusions, including that Ms Constance acted without any intention to mislead. The requirements of the Independent Advisers’ report will be followed in full.”