MSP committee 'has no confidence' in Scottish Police Authority Chairman

A Holyrood committee has said it has no confidence in the leadership of Scottish Police Authority (SPA) chair Andrew Flanagan.

The Justice Sub-Committee on Policing has written to inform Justice Secretary Michael Matheson and HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland (HMICS) Derek Penman of its ''very serious concerns'' over the standards of governance at the police watchdog.

''Given the evidence that it has heard, the sub-committee does not have confidence that the current chair is the best person to lead the board,'' a committee report said.

Mr Flanagan said he and the SPA board would ''consider this report very carefully over the coming days and reflect on its contents''.

The move follows intense scrutiny of the body by the Parliament's Public Audit Committee, which was told by former board member Moi Ali she had been bullied by Mr Flanagan.

Mr Flanagan also admitted to MSPs he did not pass on to other board members a letter sent to him by Mr Penman questioning governance arrangements at the SPA and the decision to hold some of its meetings behind closed doors.

HMICS has brought forward a review of the SPA at the request of Mr Matheson, looking particularly at issues around openness and transparency and the resignation of Ms Ali.

Mr Flanagan denies bullying but apologised to Ms Ali before appearing at a meeting of the Justice Sub-Committee earlier this month.

Convener Mary Fee said: ''Mr Flanagan's testimony to the sub-committee was frankly inadequate and we do not have confidence in his leadership.

Though he was apologetic, we are not confident he accepts he was wrong.

This issue remains unresolved. We will continue working with the Scottish Police Authority, and other justice stakeholders, until we are confident the governance of the SPA is significantly improved.''

Committee member and Green MSP John Finnie asked Mr Flanagan to ''seriously reflect on his position.''

He said: ''Mr Flanagan's half-hearted apology, emailing Moi Ali around an hour before his appearance at the sub-committee, epitomises his approach to this whole sorry saga - looking out for his own self-interest rather than that of the Scottish Police Authority.''

The report was published on the same day that the SPA board agreed to revert to holding meetings in public.

The body also agreed to hold committee meetings in public wherever possible, publish papers for meetings three days in advance, make public a summary of any business conducted in private and appoint Nicola Marchant to a new post of deputy chair.

Responding to the letter, Mr Flanagan said these steps would begin to address the concerns over transparency.

He said: ''As I indicated in my evidence to the committee, I have publicly acknowledged recent mistakes without caveat or qualification.

I also believe that in my time in office I have brought much improvement and clarity to the strategy, governance, sustainability and relationships within policing.

I remain focused on building a broad consensus around my continuing leadership of the SPA and my contribution to a stable and collaborative leadership within policing as a whole.''

Addressing the board meeting, board member Graham Houston launched an attack on members of the Public Audit Committee.

He said: ''As an example of good governance, I think the treatment of my fellow board members by an audit and scrutiny committee was frankly appalling and I think if that's an example of what's expected of good scrutiny, I think it leaves a lot to be desired and suggest that the members of that committee perhaps look to themselves about setting an example.''