THE former SNP minister who quit over alleged sexual misconduct has been given a taxpayer-funded golden goodbye despite admitting he caused a woman “considerable distress”.
Mark McDonald was automatically entitled to receive a “resettlement grant” of a quarter of his £29,083 ministerial salary earlier this month.
It meant the Aberdeen Donside MSP was paid £7,270 for quitting as the Scottish Government’s childcare minister after 18 months in post.
The money was due to be paid 90 days after his resignation, which was 104 days ago on November 4.
The revelation last night prompted calls for an overhaul of the law.
READ MORE: SNP MP calls for "Braveheart" approach to second referendum
Under the Scottish Parliamentary Pensions Act of 2009, all ministers receive a severance grant of at least 25 per cent of their additional ministerial salary when they leave their post.
The intention is to help them adjust to life after high office, and the Scottish Parliament must pay out regardless of the context, whether it is losing an election, ill-health or a scandal.
There is no need to apply for the money, and no flexibility in the system to reflect the circumstances.
Tory MSP Alexander Burnett said the payment to Mr McDonald was “clearly wrong” given the specifics of the case, and Holyrood should consider rewriting the legislation.
He said: “It’s important we look at these processes again to ensure this isn’t repeated.
“The public view of the parliament as a whole would worsen otherwise.”
READ MORE: Number of Scots firms exporting falls amid Brexit uncertainty
Labour MSP Rhoda Grant added: “This is unacceptable. It cannot be right that a minister who has resigned in such circumstances has effectively received a bonus from the taxpayer.
“If Mark McDonald has received this money, he must immediately return it or donate it to a charity such as Women’s Aid. The Scottish Parliament must also urgently review the law which allows this money to be given and appropriately reform it to avoid such circumstances in the future.”
The generous payment scheme has proven controversial in the past.
Stewart Stevenson received a similar-sized grant after quitting as SNP transport minister following travel chaos in the big freeze of 2010, but he returned it to the parliament.
Mr McDonald, 37, resigned as minister for childcare and early years after a woman formally complained to the SNP about his conduct.
He apologised for “inappropriate” behaviour, but downplayed it as a bungled attempt at humour, and suggested he might return as a minister in the future.
However a week later he admitted he had caused “considerable distress and upset”, and it emerged a sexually suggestive text had been involved.
After a second allegation surfaced against him, he was suspended by the SNP on November 16.
Ostensibly an Independent MSP, he has been absent from Holyrood on his full MSP pay since resigning.
He could not be contacted yesterday and his office declined to comment, as did the SNP.
A Holyrood spokesperson said: “Any change to the Scottish Parliamentary Pensions Act 2009 would ultimately be a matter for all MSPs.”
READ MORE: Labour to push for change in law after Mark McDonald pay-off
The SNP is facing criticism over how long it is taking to investigate Mr McDonald’s conduct.
In January, Ms Sturgeon said the party’s probe, which includes an outside legal firm, would “take as long as it takes”, but this week SNP transport minister Humza Yousaf admitted the drawn-out inquiry was “perhaps taking more time than it should”.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel