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FM 'wholly exonerated' in honours claim
27/11/2011
Scottish ministers had no involvement in the nomination of Brian Souter for a knighthood and the First Minister should be 'wholly exonerated' of any breach of the Ministerial Code, an independent report into complaints made by Jim Sheridan MP has concluded.
Lord Fraser of Carmyllie - an independent adviser to the Scottish Government on the Ministerial Code - has found that allegations Scottish ministers had directed the nomination of Mr Souter were wrong and 'ill-founded'.
Lord Fraser concluded that the Scottish Government had not deviated from the FM's policy announcement, made when he took office in 2007, that the FM and all other Scottish Government ministers have chosen to have no role in any part of the Honours process.
Read Lord Fraser's report
Lord Fraser's report says:
"Given those facts checked out with the Permanent Secretary and the Honours Unit there appears to me to have been no breach of the Ministerial Code by Alex Salmond as First Minister and he should be wholly exonerated of any breach."
Lord Fraser said that, while Mr Sheridan had been entitled to assume a Scottish Government nomination had been approved by ministers, that assumption was wrong.
"Scottish ministers, most particularly Alex Salmond, had no involvement," the report adds.
This is the fourth complaint referred to the independent panel of advisers on the Ministerial Code since the system was introduced in June 2008. In each case, the complaint against the FM has been dismissed.
Mr Salmond today welcomed Lord Fraser's report:
"I would like to thank Lord Fraser for his thorough examination of this issue and I welcome the findings that have entirely exonerated Scottish Government ministers. I trust that Mr Sheridan will also welcome this conclusion.
"This is the fourth complaint to be referred to the independent panel of advisers I set up in 2008 to rule on matters relating to the Ministerial Code, and I am pleased that, in each case, the complaint has been dismissed.
"Lord Fraser indicated that I should restate the Scottish Government's position on awarding Honours and I am happy to do so, in the form of a parliamentary answer."
"I am grateful to Lord Fraser of Carmyllie and the other adviser on the panel - Dame Elish Angiolini - for their commitment and diligence in carrying out this important role."
Read Lord Fraser's report
The report will also be placed the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe).
The Scottish Government established a system of independent advisers in 2008 to enable the First Minister to refer complaints made under the Ministerial Code. In August of this year, Lord Fraser and former Lord Advocate, Dame Elish Angiolini, were appointed as the latest advisers to take up the role. More details
Read the Scottish Ministerial Code
Three previous complaints have been referred to the panel of independent advisers and each one has been dismissed.
www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/923/0078701.pdf
www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/1124/0084819.pdf
www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2010/01/22165654