Standards Committee, 06 Nov 2002
Meeting date: Wednesday, November 6, 2002
Official Report
164KB pdf
Draft Committee Report (Alleged Unauthorised Disclosure)
The final item on our agenda concerns the alleged unauthorised disclosure of a draft Justice 2 Committee report. The committee will recall that we asked the Justice 2 Committee to conduct an initial investigation into the alleged leak. The committee has provided us with its findings.
We will take this item in public, but I would be grateful if members would avoid commenting in too much detail on the information in the Justice 2 Committee paper, to avoid compromising any possible investigation by the adviser.
In the light of the additional information that we have received from the Justice 2 Committee, we must decide today whether to exercise our discretion under the code of conduct and to direct the standards adviser to carry out an investigation. Paragraph 8 of the Justice 2 Committee's paper states:
"The Committee is ... content to leave the decision about whether a full investigation would be productive to the discretion of the Standards Committee."
That is a most helpful comment.
When we considered the matter previously, we referred it back to the Justice 2 Committee. We suggested that it conduct the initial investigations instead of referring the matter to the Standards Committee in the hope that we would conduct those investigations on its behalf.
We have commented previously on the difficulty that we have in investigating unauthorised leaks. In paragraph 7 of its paper, the Justice 2 Committee states:
"In the light of the limited evidence likely to be available, the Committee accepts that it may be difficult for the Standards Committee to investigate although Members did suggest that a full investigation might at least discourage future leaks."
Future leaks will be discouraged when MSPs take responsibility for their actions. If MSPs leak, they undermine not only their committee colleagues and the Parliament's committee structure, but the Parliament itself.
The Justice 2 Committee has been able to assemble only limited information about the leak. There is insufficient evidence for the Standards Committee to investigate the unauthorised disclosure of the Justice 2 Committee's draft report.
As Tricia Marwick indicated, the Justice 2 Committee states:
"Although the Committee thinks it likely that an MSP member of the Committee was responsible, there is no specific evidence to confirm this or to point towards a particular member."
For that reason, I agree that it would be fruitless for us to investigate the matter. We should not exercise our discretion to do so in this case.
Are members content with that?
Members indicated agreement.
We should make it clear that, although we cannot investigate this case further, we disapprove whole-heartedly of unauthorised disclosure and would like to get to the bottom of an instance of such activity.
That is taken as read.
Meeting closed at 11:28.