Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee

Meeting date: Thursday, June 21, 2018

Official Report 607KB pdf

Complaint

We move to agenda item 5. The committee has been considering a complaint about a member of the Scottish Parliament and I will now read out a statement that sets out its findings.

The committee has considered a report from the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland on a complaint from James Dornan MSP about Mark McDonald MSP. The complaint was initially made to the committee in March this year and we agreed to refer it to the commissioner for investigation, given his role in independently establishing the facts of such complaints. In our direction to the commissioner, we asked that he take into account any information that might relate to the complaint.

The complaint related to the conduct of Mark McDonald towards a member of James Dornan’s staff. In examining information relating to the complaint, the commissioner was made aware of Mark McDonald’s conduct towards another staff member and decided that it was relevant to the complaint under consideration.

The committee is unanimous in the decisions that it has reached on the complaint. First, it agrees with the commissioner’s findings in fact and conclusion that Mark McDonald failed to treat one witness with respect, that his conduct towards her involved sexual harassment and that he also failed to treat a second witness with respect in relation to a financial matter. The committee agrees with the commissioner’s finding that both behaviours were in breach of the “Code of Conduct for Members of the Scottish Parliament”.

Secondly, the committee considers that the breaches justify the imposition of sanctions on Mark McDonald. The final decision on whether to issue sanctions lies with the Parliament. The committee considered the full range of sanctions available to the Parliament and agreed that the sanctions to be imposed should send a clear signal about the seriousness of Mark McDonald’s conduct but should not have a financial impact on his staff nor unduly impact on his ability to represent his constituents.

I propose that the committee recommend in its report that the Parliament exclude Mark McDonald from proceedings of the Parliament for a period of one month, which will not overlap with any period of recess; withdraw his salary for a period of one month to coincide with his exclusion from proceedings of the Parliament; withdraw the right of access as a member to the Holyrood parliamentary complex for the period of one month to coincide with his exclusion from the proceedings of the Parliament; and withdraw his rights to any representational, ceremonial and related privileges until dissolution.

I invite the committee to agree to that proposal.

Members indicated agreement.

Although the committee’s role in the complaints process is specifically focused on considering the commissioner’s findings in fact and conclusion, I will also comment more generally on the nature of the complaint.

The zero tolerance statement agreed by the Presiding Officer, the chief executive and the party leaders last week provides clear definitions of sexist behaviour and sexual harassment and makes it clear that those behaviours do not belong in the Parliament. The committee fully endorses that statement. In our recent report on sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour, we identified a number of potential areas in which the code of conduct could be strengthened and we will pursue those revisions in the coming parliamentary year.

I will also comment on the confidentiality requirements in the complaints process, which are in the code of conduct for MSPs. We previously expressed our disappointment that James Dornan shared details of the complaint with the media. It is an explicit provision in the code of conduct that

“Members must not disclose, communicate or discuss any complaint or intention to make a complaint to or with members of the press or other media prior to the lodging of the complaint or during Stages 1 and 2 of the procedure for dealing with complaints”.

In addition, before we had seen the commissioner’s report, it appears that its findings were shared with the media, further undermining the confidentiality of the process.

As I said in my initial statement on the matter in March, proper processes must be observed to ensure a robust outcome. The commissioner and the committee must be able carry out their work without any external interference. We consider it unacceptable that the confidentiality requirements have been flouted more than once during the complaint. That is disrespectful to the process and the people involved, as well as to the committee and the Parliament.

Today’s decision relates solely to the complaint regarding Mark McDonald, but the committee will return to the issue of confidentiality. Full details of the complaint, and the commissioner’s investigation of it, will be included in the committee’s report, which will be published later this afternoon. Until it is published, the report remains confidential and neither I nor any other member of the committee will make any further comment.

We now move back into private session.