FORMER Labour health minister Susan Deacon is to be the next chair of the troubled Scottish Police Authority.

Deacon will replace Andrew Flanagan, in an appointment due to last four years.

Flanagan was caught up in a row over bullying at the watchdog, and accused by MSPs of presiding over a culture of “Kremlin”-like secrecy.

He announced his resignation in June but offered to stay on until a successor was appointed.

However, nobody expected that to last four months.

Justice Secretary Michael Matheson said he was pleased to now have the former MSP on board: “I am delighted to appoint Susan Deacon to the important and high profile role of chair of the SPA.

“As a former parliamentarian and minister with considerable experience in high profile board posts, she will bring a fresh perspective to the governance of Scottish policing.” Deacon was Scotland’s first health minister following devolution, appointed to the brief by Donald Dewar.

She’s well respected across the parties.

Currently working as a professor and assistant principal external relations at the University of Edinburgh, she served as the MSP for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh between 1999 and 2007 before leaving Holyrood.

Deacon chairs the Institute of Directors in Scotland, the Edinburgh Festivals Forum and is a non-executive director of Lothian Buses.

The SPA’s responsibilities are ultimately managing the £1bn police budget and holding senior officers to account. Critics suggest the fledgling body has underachieved in both those areas.

Deacon, who will take up her new post on December 4, said: “It is a privilege to be appointed as chair of the Scottish Police Authority.

“The issues facing the SPA have been well documented and there is much to be learned from what has gone before, but my focus now is on the future.”

Two Holyrood committees investigated governance at the organisation after a board member quit in a row over meetings being held behind closed doors, and Flanagan’s failure to circulate critical correspondence.

Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesman Liam McArthur said: “The SPA has faced a deluge of bad news over the past 12 months, from accusations of a culture of secrecy to a breakdown of managerial relationships.

“It is essential that the new chair works with the incoming chief executive to get to grips with these challenges so that public confidence can be restored going forward.”

Scottish Labour’s Justice spokesperson Claire Baker said: “I welcome the appointment of Susan Deacon as the new chair of the SPA. I am sure that her expertise will be invaluable as the organisation looks to learn from the mistakes of the past.

“This must be the start of the SPA regaining the public’s confidence following a series of blunders and controversies. With a new chair in place we must now look forward to ensuring the SPA is equipped in holding Police Scotland to account.

“I also welcome that this appointment was the first with, albeit limited, parliament involvement in the process.

“This however must only be the start.

With a new, and hopefully long term appointment, in place, we must now look at changing legislation so that Parliament has a full role to play in any future appointments.”

Acting Convener of the Public Audit and Post-Legislative Scrutiny Committee, Jackie Baillie MSP, said:

“We hope the culture of secrecy at the SPA will be in the past now that there is a new chair at the helm. This is desperately needed in order to restore public confidence in how policing is run in Scotland.”