THE SCOTTISH Government has agreed to name and shame ministers who are found to have bullied or harassed civil servants.
The Scottish Government pledged to update complaints handling procedures following the Alex Salmond fiasco.
The Government botched its probe into sexual misconduct allegations made against Mr Salmond in 2018.
Mr Salmond had the exercise set aside in a judicial review after the Government conceded it was unlawful and “tainted by apparent bias”, an error that left taxpayers with a £512,000 bill for his legal costs.
He was later cleared of multiple charges of sexual assault at the High Court in Edinburgh.
Earlier this year, SNP ministers came under fire for refusing to make public the outcome of a bullying complaint against former minister Fergus Ewing.
The Scottish Government claimed details could not be published due to GDPR rules.
In May, reports suggested the investigation into Mr Ewing, which was escalated into a formal process, had been completed – but the First Minister refused to comment on the outcome, pointing to GDPR rules, fuelling the prospect that outcomes of any bullying complaints may never be made public.
SNP MP Joanna Cherry publicly insisted her colleagues at Holyrood should publish complaint outcomes.
But Deputy First Minister John Swinney has now agreed to update procedures so that current and former ministers who have complaints upheld or partially upheld will have the outcome published.
The Government said the outcome will be published with an “appropriately redacted version” of any decision report with information leading to the identity of witnesses or complainants to be removed from public view.
But the Scottish Government has been accused of bringing forward a "convenient way to shuffle complaints against Fergus Ewing under the carpet".
Information on the number of formal complaints will be proactively published every six months.
Mr Swinney said: “The First Minister advised the Scottish Parliament in June that the ministerial code and complaints procedure would be updated with regards to future complaints.
“The Scottish Government is determined to build a culture in which concerns are addressed early and in which all those who are involved with a complaint have confidence and can engage constructively and fairly in the process.”
The Liberal Democrats have demanded answers of the allegations into Mr Ewing.
LibDems MP Wendy Chamberlain, said: "Ever since the allegations against Alex Salmond broke there have been real questions over how well put together the Scottish Government's complaints process is.
"It is to be hoped that this new process will improve both complaints handling and transparency going forward.
"However, it looks as if it is also a convenient way to shuffle complaints against Fergus Ewing under the carpet.
"The public still have no idea whether a senior cabinet figure was subject to any sanction after complaints about their behaviour."
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