A former Scottish Government official who told colleagues to delete WhatsApp messages during the Covid pandemic has taken up a new role "providing governance and administration advice" to a leading charity. 

Ken Thomson, who was Nicola Sturgeon’s director general for strategy and external affairs has been appointed Director of the Scottish International Education Trust (SIET), an organisation set up by the late Sean Connery.

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Earlier this year, the UK Covid Inquiry uncovered messages from a WhatsApp group for civil servants called "Covid Outbreak".

In one sent in 2020 to deputy chief medical officer Lesley Steedman, Mr Thomson wrote: "Just to remind you (seriously) this is discoverable under FOI. Know where the 'clear chat' button is."

He added: "Plausible deniability are my middle names. Now clear it again."

Mr Thomson later used a phrase common in rejection letters for freedom of information requests: "The information you requested is not held centrally."

The ex-senior civil servant who retired last year, also wrote in 2021: "I feel moved at this point to remind you that this channel is FOI recoverable."

The message included a zipped mouth emoji.

In her evidence, Nicola Sturgeon later described him as an official who acted with “the utmost integrity and utmost professionalism”, calling his remarks “light-hearted”.

Shortly after the messages were made public, Mr Thomson left his job as chair of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland’s (ICAS) regulation board.

He took up the post on January 1, before standing down on January 31.

The Edinburgh Reporter said families of those who had lost loved ones to Covid had questioned whether he was a suitable candidate for the role. 

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Details of his position with the SIET were revealed in a recent update by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointment (Acoba), the propriety watchdog which advises ministers and senior officials on jobs they take up after leaving government.

The committee said that as “Mr Thomson did not make any decisions in office that were specific to SIET, nor did he make any policy, regulatory or commercial decisions that would have directly affected SIET or the sector it operates in” the risk of any conflict of interest was “low.”

However, they said he abide by the standard rules and "not become personally involved in lobbying” ministers or trying to influence policy for two years after his retirement from Scottish Government. 

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The SIET was established by Sir Sean in 1971, with the James Bond actor using his entire fee from Diamonds Are Forever to fund the charity.  Scottish students who show exceptional ability and promise can apply for financial help to further their studies or professional training.

Decisions on who receives cash are made by the Trustees. Mr Thomson’s role is to “receive applications, take up references, make recommendations, and implement the Trustees’ decisions.”

Ginnie Atkinson, the Chair of the Scottish International Education Trust said: “Mr Thomson was appointed in January 2024, after his retirement from the Civil Service, to support the work of the Trustees.”

As well as the job with the trust, Mr Thomson is also an honorary professor at Glasgow University’s Centre for Public Policy.

The University described Mr Thomson as “one of the key architects of devolution”, as he worked on constitutional change before the Scottish Parliament was revived in 1999.