EXCLUSIVE
Grampian's controversial departing chief constable, Dr Ian Oliver, is asking the Joint Police Board to pay the #3000 lawyer's bill he ran up taking advice on how to prevent it forcing him to retire.
The Herald understands his request, thought to be the first such request to a board, will be considered in private at Monday's meeting. It is understood there is no clear provision for such a payment and it is anticipated it is unlikely to be warmly received by some board members who have been openly hostile to the chief constable, who departs on May 24 with an estimated #140,000 lump sum and an annual pension of more than #35,000.
One of the items on the board agenda is ''Request for financial assistance to police officers in legal proceedings'' but Mr Crawford Langley, Aberdeen City Council's director of legal and corporate services and board clerk, declined to give any details.
He said there were standard procedures for considering cases for financial assistance to officers, normally when they were accused of criminal offences. He said it was a ''fairly standard'' item on the agenda and it was usual for the board to provide some assistance.
He said there was a provision that, if a board was taking steps to require a chief constable, deputy chief constable, or assistant chief constable to retire in the interests of efficiency and the Secretary of State held an inquiry into it, there was an obligation to pay the individual's expenses in the majority of circumstances.
The #3000 bill is believed to relate to the week when Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar , backed by MPs and several members of the board, urged Dr Oliver to ''pack his bags and go''.
It was the week which began with the publication of the Power report which was severely critical of Grampian's investigation of the disappearance and murder of nine-year-old Scott Simpson.
The day after the report's publication, a vote of no confidence in Dr Oliver was passed by the board but he refused to accede to their request to retire earlier than August 31, the date he announced in February, without time to seek proper advice. Later that day, having sought advice, he did offer to retire but the offer was rejected.
The week ended with a further offer from Dr Oliver, which meant a later departure, being accepted.
On June 1, one week after Dr Oliver's retiral, Mr Andrew Brown from Lothian and Borders Police will take over.
Dr Oliver is understood to have been advised during that week by McGrigor Donald, one of the UK's leading commercial law firms, with 49 partners and more than 160 lawyers operating from offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, London, and Brussels. It is the largest law firm headquartered in Scotland.
Meanwhile, addressing the Scottish Police Superintendents' Association, Home Affairs Minister Henry McLeish yesterday attempted to justify his high-profile role in the demise of Dr Oliver, a role which has attracted some criticism over the apparent intervention of the executive in a local policing matter over which they had not locus.
He reaffirmed his commitment to the current tripartite structure of the police service - a pact between local government, central government, and the chief constables - despite, he said, ''the quite exceptional situation which arose with the chief constable of Grampian''.
He added: ''There is no question of Ministers interfering in operational issues, but the situation in Grampian was about accountability.
''It was about the accountability of the chief constable to his police authority, to the Secretary of State, and to the public. What we all must remember is that, at the end of the day, we are in a partnership between government, the police, the local authorities, the courts, and above all, with the people of Scotland.''
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