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Secrecy row as members of quangos banned from speaking out

By Graham Grant Home Affairs Editor

MEMBERS of quangos run by the SNP Government have been ordered not to ‘raise concerns’ about the ‘performance, conduct or capability’ of employees in public.

All public bodies have been told by the Scottish Government to adopt a new code of conduct by next month. However, there are concerns that it will undermine accountability.

According to the protocol, members should raise problems with colleagues in private, rather than speaking out.

The new code emerged in papers for a public board meeting today of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), which has been hit by financial scandals and rows over transparency.

Schools quango Education Scotland was criticised last year for preventing board members from speaking to the media.

The code, which members of public boards must sign up to, states: ‘I will not undermine any individual employee or group of employees, or raise concerns about their performance, conduct or capability in public. I will raise any concerns… on such matters in private with senior management, as appropriate.’

Scottish Tory community safety spokesman Russell Findlay said the requirement was ‘like something out of the SNP secret state playbook’.

He added: ‘I’m not surprised at this chilling diktat which aims to of silence any dissent.

‘But officials in Scotland’s public sector need to remember their wages are paid by taxpayers and everything they do on behalf of the public should be open to legitimate scrutiny.’

SPA chief executive Lynn Brown said the ‘code of conduct was approved by the Scottish parliament’.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Those working for public bodies should have the right to whistleblow if they see wrongdoing at work. The code of conduct does not create any conflicts with an organisation’s whistleblowing policies.’

A CORROSIVe secrecy culture has taken root in Scotland’s dysfunctional public sector – and it is becoming ever more deeply ingrained.

As we reveal today, a sinister new code of conduct is being introduced which effectively orders members of public bodies not to speak out about their concerns.

Instead, any problems they have with their colleagues should be raised privately, keeping them in-house.

The Scottish Police Authority disclosed details of the code in papers for a board meeting, making clear it would apply to all public bodies.

This quango has been embroiled in a financial scandal of its own, with major questions raised over its own commitment to accountability.

In other cases, diktats have been issued to quango members telling them not to speak to the media.

It emerged last year that one duty of another key government agency, Public health Scotland, is to protect the reputation of the Scottish Government.

Sunlight is the only effective disinfectant – and when a democracy loses sight of that fundamental principle, we are in dangerous territory.

Secretive edicts of this kind must be resisted at all costs – and the SNP should drop its control-freak tendencies before permanent damage is done to basic standards in public life.

Partygate: The Verdict

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