IT is not possible to tell if documents relating to misconduct allegations against former First Minister Alex Salmond have already been deleted from the Scottish Government ’s computer system, Permanent Secretary Leslie Evans has revealed.
Scotland’s most senior civil servant told MSPs it is “not technically possible” to know what documents have been automatically wiped from the system.
Evans added that if material has been deleted it was not possible for it to be retrieved.
With the Scottish Government computer system automatically deleting Outlook documents that have not been saved on to the corporate record after 14 months, the Permanent Secretary had already stepped in to prevent this from happening with certain employees.
The inquiry is looking into a complaint that was made 15 months ago.
MSPs on the Holyrood committee set up to probe the Government’s handling of the allegations against the former SNP leader first raised concerns about the “preservation of evidence” at the end of March.
At the time Evans told members of the Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints that she had “instructed the halting of the automated deletion of some users’ content”.
The committee was set up to look at the matter after a court ruling in January that the Scottish Government’s handling of the allegations against the former First Minister was “unlawful”.
He had raised a legal challenge to the process, taking this to the Court of Session in Edinburgh, after it emerged the investigating officer had had previous contact with the two women who made the allegations.
Following that ruling, Evans pledged that an internal review of procedures within the government would be carried out.
Salmond has denied the allegations against him.
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