Details of Investigative Officer (IO) appointment in Former First Minister inquiry: FOI release

Information requested

"When was Judith Mackinnon appointed the IO for Woman B? 23rd January or 24th? By whom? How? When did Woman B make her formal complaint? 1.56 24th January? Or before that time?"

Response

I have understood your request to concern the following questions:

1. When was Judith Mackinnon appointed the IO for Ms B – 23 or 24 January?

2. Who appointed her?

3. How was she appointed?

4. When did Ms B make her formal complaint – at 1.56 on 24 January, or before that time?

You ask in your first question when Judith Mackinnon was appointed the IO for Ms B. The appointment was on 23rd January, this information was provided by the Scottish Government to the SGHHC as part of the Scottish Government's written statement on complaints handing, see paragraph 21 of the following document: SGHHC_Further_Written_Statement_Investigation_of_Complaints_- _18_December_2020Redacted.pdf (parliament.scot).

I am also disclosing a document, INV015 - FOI233716 - redacted.pdf, that contains the answers to questions 1 - 3: the date of the appointment, who appointed Ms Mackinnon, and how she was appointed.

In response to your request and to be helpful I can point you in the direction of publicly available sources of information in answer to questions 2 - 4.

You ask in your second question who appointed Judith Mackinnon as the IO. On 1 December 2020 Judith Mackinnon said in oral evidence to the SGHHC:
"Nicky Richards, who was my line manager and the Director of People in the Scottish Government, appointed me to the IO role."

Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

You ask in your third question how Ms Mackinnon was appointed. This was by text and can be found in the document I have disclosed and on page 4 of this document on the SGHHC pages of the Scottish Parliament website: SP_SGHHC_-_FN23(1).pdf (parliament.scot).

Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

You ask in your fourth question when Ms B made her formal complaint. Ms B notified the Director for People on 23 January 2018 of her decision to make a formal complaint. This information was provided by the Scottish Government to the SGHHC as part of the Scottish Government's written statement on complaints handing, see paragraph 21 of the following document:
SGHHC_Further_Written_Statement_Investigation_of_Complaints_- _18_December_2020Redacted.pdf (parliament.scot). Ms B followed up by submitting her complaint by email. The email trail is referenced in the written statement and is on page 2 of this document, see 24 January at 1.56pm: SP_SGHHC_-_FN24.pdf (parliament.scot).

Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI - 202100233716 - Information Released - INV015 - FOI233716 - redacted

File type

5 page PDF

File size

1.6 MB