Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints

Meeting date: Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Official Report 430KB pdf

Approach to the Committee’s Inquiry

The committee is now back in public session after a very interesting discussion.

The committee notes that, in the context of the Scottish Government’s current document management policy, having taken detailed briefings on information retention systems in our meeting today, it may no longer be possible to access all the information—please excuse me, anyone who is listening, including the official report staff; I am desperately trying to read my scribbles. I will start again.

Having taken detailed briefings on information retention systems, the committee notes that, in the context of the Scottish Government’s current document management policy, it might be no longer available—I am sorry; I will try again. Third time lucky. Please excuse me again.

The committee notes, having taken detailed briefings on information retention systems in its meeting today, that, in the context of the Scottish Government’s current document management policy, information may no longer be available if it predates the Scottish Government’s instruction to retain of 22 March. The committee welcomes the Scottish Government’s confirmation that it will share the information provided as part of the judicial review.

The committee notes that the Scottish Government uses enterprise vault, in which information—emails, for example—is held for a year before deletion. The committee is seeking further information on the Scottish Government’s exchange configuration and exchange retention policy settings.

The committee discussed the permanent secretary’s letter of 26 September and notes that legal expenditure of over £25,000 is routinely published on the Scottish Government’s website. However, the committee notes that that is not the case in this instance, at the date of this committee meeting, and it will seek clarification.

The meeting is now closed.