JUSTICE Secretary Angela Constance has told MSPs she had apologised to grooming gangs expert Professor Alexis Jay after surviving a vote of no confidence.
Constance told a Holyrood committee on Wednesday she had given a "professional apology" to Jay on a private call, saying it was "never my intention to have Professor Jay be the subject of so much intrusion and attention".
Constance survived a vote of no confidence in the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday.
It had been lodged by the Tories over allegations the Justice Secretary had misled Parliament and misrepresented the views of Jay.
The issue began in September, when Constance opposed a Conservative amendment to a victims bill calling for an inquiry into grooming gangs.
READ MORE: MP joins prison protest as Palestine Action hunger striker 'may die'
The Justice Secretary told MSPs that Professor Alexis Jay "did not support further inquiries" into child sexual abuse and exploitation.
However, emails released by the government show Professor Jay clarified in September that she made that comment "in the context of the England and Wales Public Inquiry on Child Sexual Abuse, which I chaired".
The academic said Scottish ministers should collect "reliable data" about the problem and requested that her position be clarified. The Government then issued a clarification in meeting notes last month but not in the Holyrood chamber.
Constance told the education committee she had apologised to Jay and will look at correcting the record.
Speaking about a call with Jay on November 27, Constance said: "At that time I was strongly of the view that I owed Professor Jay a professional apology."
READ MORE: Plaid Cymru top new Senedd poll as Labour support plunges
She went on: "It was never my intention to have Prof Jay be the subject of so much intrusion and attention and I very much regret that."
There was no government official present for the private phone call between Constance and Jay, something which MSPs raised concerns about given that paragraph 8.13 of the ministerial code states that “a government official should be present for all discussions relating to government business”.
Constance said she made sure to send a note of the meeting shortly afterward. She denied breaching the ministerial code.
Asked by convener Douglas Ross – who last week was accused by half the committee members of "abusing his position" after announcing Constance and Jay would give evidence to the committee – if she regretted using the quote from Jay, Constance said the quote was "accurate" but suggested she could have expressed herself differently.
Jay told MSPs she would welcome the official parliamentary record on her comments being clarified in the same way the minutes of the strategic group meeting were.
She began her remarks to the committee saying not enough is known about child sexual exploitation in Scotland.
SNP MSP Jackie Dunbar asked if this issue had become too politicised and whether MSPs have moved away from what they should be concentrating on, which is tackling child sexual abuse and protecting children from harm.
"The issue of a grooming inquiry has become extremely politicised," said Constance.
"I do think it is regretful that others have mischaracterised what that vote in parliament was about."
Share