Scotland's Justice Secretary Angela Constance has triggered calls for a ministerial code investigation after revealing she made a "personal and direct apology" to grooming gangs expert Professor Alexis Jay without a government official present on the call.
The revelation came during a Holyrood committee hearing on Wednesday, a day after Constance survived a no-confidence vote in the Scottish Parliament. Committee convener Douglas Ross warned the absence of an official could constitute a breach of ministerial code, which states: «a Government official should be present for all discussions relating to Government business».
The controversy stems from a September parliamentary debate where Constance quoted Prof Jay to oppose Conservative calls for a Scottish inquiry into grooming gangs. Prof Jay subsequently contacted the Scottish Government to clarify her remarks had «nothing to do» with the Scottish situation and sought an accurate record of her statements.
The phone call controversy
Constance told MSPs she made «a personal call to make a very personal apology to Alexis Jay» a couple of weeks ago. She wrote a note of the discussion and submitted it to her office, but confirmed no government official was present during the conversation.
Douglas Ross challenged this approach. He pointed out Constance is «a very experienced parliamentarian and Government minister» who should have known «an official should have been on that call». Ross said he would «deem to be a breach of the ministerial code» the fact no official participated.
Constance defended her actions, saying she wanted to make a personal apology and was not aware ministers were prohibited from making personal calls. She acknowledged it was the first time she had made a call on government business without an official present.
Prof Jay's position
Professor Alexis Jay told the committee she had «never sought» an apology from the Justice Secretary. Instead, she wanted an «accurate record» of her parliamentary quote and sought a clarification that would be accessible to the public.
Prof Jay confirmed she welcomed a correction to the official Holyrood record. She expressed surprise that her correspondence with ministers was not published earlier and said she had not wished to make the matter «adversarial».
The expert said she was not contacted before her words were used in the chamber. The clarification was eventually added to minutes of the National Strategic Group on Child Sexual Abuse, which are publicly available.
Political fallout
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar called for Constance's resignation, saying she had «misled» the Scottish Parliament and «repeatedly refused» to correct the official record. He stated Constance had «lost the confidence of victims and survivors» and «cannot stay in post».
Despite Prof Jay's request for a correction, Constance only committed to «certainly consider» how and if the parliamentary record could be amended. She explained she had not corrected it earlier because she viewed her September statement as «a general debating point» rather than a factual error requiring correction.
Constance said she would have no concerns if the First Minister asked Independent Advisers on the Ministerial Code to investigate the matter. However, she said she would not refer herself for investigation, stating she would not «influence» decisions by the First Minister or independent advisers.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
