Presiding officer says no ‘bugging devices’ involved in Holyrood employment case

A letter sent to Dame Jackie Baillie from Presiding Officer Alison Johnston and chief executive David McGill has said there were “no covert bugging devices” involved in a Holyrood employment case.

The response comes after Scottish Labour deputy leader Dame Jackie called for Holyrood’s presiding officer to investigate allegations a former SNP staff member bugged the office of the MSP he worked for.

The letter details two historic cases, one of which was handled by the employing MSP as a “localised employment dispute” following an independent, external investigation.

In the other case the member chose to take no further action as the employment relationship had already ended.

The letter said: “While the detail of these employment matters are confidential, we are assured that no covert bugging devices were involved.

“Beyond these two historic cases, we have no information of any other allegations of this nature at local offices or indeed at Holyrood.”

Reports emerged on Thursday that the staff member, who went on to work for an MP and remains an office bearer in a local party association, admitted placing recording devices in the office of his female MSP employer.

The matter had been reported to the presiding officer, but was outside the powers of the Scottish Parliament, because of MSPs’ staff being employed directly by elected members.

But Dame Jackie urged the presiding officer to step in following the “deeply alarming reports”.

“At a minimum, there has been a shocking violation of trust and an unacceptable breach of standards,” she said in a letter on Friday.

A spokesperson for the SNP rejected any allegations that the party or any of its leaders were aware of the issue, while also supporting calls for a Holyrood investigation.

“It is categorically untrue to state that these allegations were brought to any first minister or asked to be handled under party complaints procedures,” the spokesperson said.

“We support an investigation by the parliamentary authorities to ensure that their processes are fit for purpose and appropriately safeguard all members and their staff.

“We hope any investigation considers these matters alongside the events that have led to two Labour MSPs being suspended amid police investigations and a further Labour MSP resigning her front-bench position due to her links to a convicted sex offender.”