Written evidence

The Committee has issued the following letters, requesting written evidence. The Committee has also requested a series of submissions from the Scottish Government, which can be read on the correspondence section of the Committee's webpage.

The Committee received a number of submissions in response to its requests for written evidence, including in response to the invitations below. The submitters have given their submissions to the Parliament with the intention that these should be published in full. However, as set out in the Committee’s evidence handling statement, Parliament officials are required to process all such submissions before being able to publish them. The Parliament can only publish submissions where publication is compliant with the legal obligations on the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body, which may be different than legal obligations on individual submitters. As a result of this process, the Parliament has decided that a number of these submissions should not be published, including the submission from Geoff Aberdein. A number of other submissions have been redacted.

Letters requesting the submission of written evidence

Letter to Prospect

Letter to FDA

Letter to PCS Scotland

Letter to Geoff Aberdein, former Chief of Staff to the Former First Minister (response submitted by Mr Aberdein on 9 October 2020)

Letter to Sir John Elvidge, former Permanent Secretary

Letter to James Hamilton, independent panel member

Letter to Sir Peter Housden, former Permanent Secretary

Letter to Liz Lloyd, Chief of Staff to the First Minister

Letter to Peter Murrell, Chief Executive, Scottish National Party

Letter to Alex Salmond, Former First Minister

Letter to Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister

Letter to John Swinney MSP, Deputy First Minister

Letter to James Wolffe, Lord Advocate

Letters were also sent to civil servants involved in Government processes, requesting a chronological account of their actions. The wording of this letter can be found below:

Letter sent to civil servants involved in Government processes

The Committee sought further written evidence from the Scottish National Party on 9 September 2020:

Letter from the Convener to Peter Murrell, 9 September 2020

The Convener wrote to Sir Peter Housden on 19 October 2020:

Letter from the Convener to Sir Peter Housden, 19 October 2020 (157KB pdf)

On 29 October 2020 the Convener wrote to Liz Lloyd, Chief of Staff to the First Minister requesting additional written evidence and also to civil servant John Somers:

Letter from the Convener to Liz Lloyd, 29 October 2020

Letter from the Convener to John Somers, 29 October 2020

Letter from the Convener to Angus Robertson, 26 November 2020 (133KB pdf)

Letter from the Convener to Barbara Allison, 4 December 2020 (78KB pdf)

The Convener wrote to the Chief Constable on 23 December 2020 regarding any involvement from Police Scotland in the development of the procedure and in the handling of complaints:

Letter from the Convener to the Chief Constable, 23 December 2020 (144KB pdf)

Following the evidence session on 8 December, the Convener wrote to Peter Murrell requesting further written evidence:

Letter from the Convener to Peter Murrell, 23 December 2020 (82.8KB pdf)

Following Peter Murrell’s written submission of 13 January 2021, the Convener wrote to invite him to give further evidence to the Committee:

Letter from the Convener to Peter Murrell, 19 January 2021 (96KB pdf)

On 22 January 2021, the Clerk to the Parliament, on the instruction of the Committee, issued a notice to the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) under Section 24 of the Scotland Act 1998 to provide documents to the Committee:

Letter from the Clerk of the Parliament to COPFS, 22 January 2021 (152KB pdf)

Letter from the Convener to the Lord Advocate, 3 February 2021 (130KB pdf)

On 26 February 2021, the Clerk to the Parliament, on the instruction of the Committee, issued a notice to the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) under Section 24 of the Scotland Act 1998 to provide documents to the Committee:

Letter from the Clerk of the Parliament to COPFS, 26 February 2021 (1.73 MB pdf)

Following the Committee’s motion of 24 February to invite the SPCB to approach the High Court for guidance, the Clerk of the Parliament responded on 1 March 2021:

Letter from the Clerk of the Parliament to the SGHHC Committee, 1 March 2021 (53KB pdf)

On 11 March 2021, the Clerk to the Parliament, on the instruction of the Committee, issued a notice to the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) under Section 24 of the Scotland Act 1998 to provide documents to the Committee:

Letter from the Clerk of the Parliament to COPFS, 11 March 2021 (169KB pdf)

On 12 March 2021 the Convener wrote to Levy & McRae requesting documents relating to the inquiry:

Letter from the Convener to Levy & McRae, 12 March 2021 (75KB pdf)

On 15 March 2021, the Clerk to the Parliament, on the instruction of the Committee, issued a notice to the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) under Section 24 of the Scotland Act 1998 to provide documents to the Committee:

Letter from the Clerk of the Parliament to COPFS, 15 March 2021 (168KB pdf)

Written evidence received

Written submission from PCS

Written submission from Prospect

Further written submission from Prospect

Written submission from FDA

Written submission from Sir John Elvidge, former Permanent Secretary

Written submission from Sir Peter Housden, former Permanent Secretary

Written submission from Peter Murrell, Chief Executive, Scottish National Party

Written submission from James Hamilton, Independent Adviser on the Scottish Ministerial Code

Written submission from Liz Lloyd, Chief of Staff to the First Minister

The Committee received an additional written submission from Liz Lloyd, Chief of Staff to the First Minister:

Additional written submission from Liz Lloyd (190KB pdf)

Written submission from Nicola Sturgeon MSP

Written submission from John Swinney MSP

Additional written submission from Peter Murrell, Chief Executive, Scottish National Party

Written submission from the Lord Advocate

Written submission from Sarah Davidson

The Deputy First Minister provided written evidence in the form of a letter to the Convener on 6 November 2020 in response to the Convener’s written evidence request to civil servants of 29 October (published in the section above).

Letter from the Deputy First Minister to the Convener, 6 November 2020 (340KB pdf)

Nicola Sturgeon submitted additional written evidence to the Committee on 12 October 2020.

Additional written submission from Nicola Sturgeon (256KB pdf)

Written submission received from Angus Robertson, 8 December 2020 (57KB pdf)

Barbara Allison provided written evidence to the Committee in the form of a letter in response to the Convener’s letters of 4 December (published in the section above).

Letter from Barbara Allison to the Convener, 9 December 2020 (110KB pdf)

On 8 January 2021, legal firm Levy & McRae, representing Former First Minister Alex Salmond, wrote to Committee members providing additional written evidence.

Written submission received from Alex Salmond, 14 December 2020 (157KB pdf)

Written submission received from Police Scotland, 20 January 2021 (364KB pdf)

Written submission on Judicial Review received from Alex Salmond, 27 January 2021(498KB pdf). This document is also published in the Judicial Review page.

The Convener received two letters in response to her letter to the Lord Advocate of 3 February; one form the Lord Advocate; and the other from Lesley Fraser, Interim Director-General Organisational Development and Operations, Scottish Government:

Letter from the Lord Advocate to the Convener, 8 February 2021 (139KB pdf)

Letter from Lesley Fraser to the Convener, 8 February 2021 (86KB pdf)

On 17 February 2021, Alex Salmond made a final written submission to the Committee:

Final written submission from Alex Salmond (0.99MB pdf)

Written submission from Alex Salmond on the Ministerial Code phase of the Committee’s inquiry (redacted and published on 23 February 2021):

Written Submission from Alex Salmond (904KB pdf)

Further written submission from the Lord Advocate ahead of his evidence session on 2 March 2021:

Written submission from the Lord Advocate (96KB pdf)

Written submission from Kevin Pringle (57KB pdf)

Written submission from Duncan Hamilton (135KB pdf)

Response from COPFS to Section 24 Notice of 11 March 2021 (397KB pdf)

Written submission from Lorraine Kaye (86KB pdf)

Response from COPFS to Section 24 Notice of 22 January 2021 (2.65MB pdf)

Response from COPFS to Section 24 Notice of 15 March 2021 (106KB pdf)

Attachments to the response from COPFS to the Section 24 Notice of 15 March 2021 (132KB pdf)

The Committee received a written submission via Rape Crisis Scotland from an anonymous individual. The publication of this submission has been agreed with this individual via Rape Crisis Scotland:

Written submission from Ms X, 18 March 2021 (54KB pfd)