Scottish Justice Secretary breaches ministerial code twice but keeps job

But Angela Constance has clung on to her job, as the report concluded the breaches were "unintentional", at the “lower end of the spectrum” and did not require her resignation.

The inquiry into whether she had broken ministerial rules came after she was accused of misrepresenting the views of child sex abuse expert Professor Alexis Jay during a debate in Holyrood.

In a reponse to the Conservatives who wanted it written in legislation that the new post of Victims Commissioner should involve conducting research into the scale of child sexual exploitation in Scotland, the Justice Secretary told Parliament that Prof Jay “shares my view” and “does not support further inquiries into child sexual abuse and exploitation”.

However Prof Jay, who chaired the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in England and Wales between 2016 and 2022, later wrote to Constance seeking a correction.

She said her comments had been taken out of context and she had “expressed no views” on what the Tories were demanding, or on whether Scotland should have it's own inquiry.

Rather than correct the official record in Parliament, a correction was made in the minutes of a government strategic group on child sexual exploitation.

And despite being pushed for an investigation by the independent advisers on the code, John Swinney said there had been breach.

However, under new rules, the leaders of both the Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Labour wrote to the independent advisers and an investigation was launched.

And the report show Angela Constance breached the code twice.

In the first instance, in her quoting of Prof Jay, it says she “committed an inadvertent error” but that her comments “had the potential to mislead parliament”.

A further breach came when the Justice Secretary did not have a government official attend a phone call with Prof Jay in December.

The report concluded: “The principles described in the code provide for a spectrum of seriousness from inadvertence to knowingly misleading parliament.

"We have concluded that the two breaches were inadvertence without any deliberation or intention to mislead.

“That is 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 to clarify the words used and thereby add to the official record.”

In her statement to Holyrood she said she "fully accepted" the findings of the independent advisers' report but was "pleased" the advisers' report "made clear my quoting of Professor Jay's views was 'without any deliberation or intention to mislead'".

And while she stressed she "did not intend to mislead Parliament in any way", she accepted that the record of Holyrood proceedings "could have and should have been corrected earlier".

Desp;ite demands from opposition parties for an independent advisers inquiry, First Minister John Swinney said he was content that the Justice Secretary had not breached the code.

Today in his letter of reprove he said Constance should have taken “further steps” to ensure corrections were made to the parliament.

He also said Constance made an “error of judgement” in relation to telephone call she had with Prof Jay where no official was present.

He added@: “I know that you share my belief that ministers must act in a way that upholds the highest standards of propriety and that it is absolutely right that, as office holders, ministers are held to the highest possible standards of proper conduct.

“I also know that you will continue to reflect on these matters and ensure that due process is followed in all circumstances and in such a way that meets our obligations to the parliament, and to ensure that these errors, whilst inadvertent, are not repeated in the future.”

As a result of being found to have breached the ministerial code, Angela Constance faced calls from both Labour and the Scottish Conservatives to quit the cabinet.

Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay described her as "discredited" and demanded to know if she had offered her resignation to John Swinney.

He added that if the First Minister "won't do the right thing and sack her" Angela Constance should "do the right thing and quit".

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar also called on the Justice Secretary to step down, insisting she has "lost the confidence of survivors and on that basis she must resign".

However Constance however rejected their calls, telling MSPs: "For some people walking away is always easier than being held to account.

"I would much rather take the harder road of being held to account, to making amends and getting on with the job."