Holyrood committee says Scottish Police Authority boss “behaved inappropriately”

The chair of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) appears to have “behaved inappropriately”, according to a Holyrood committee.

In a letter to Justice Secretary Michael Matheson, the public audit and post-legislative scrutiny committee raised serious concerns about SPA chair Andrew Flanagan.

The committee said it appeared Mr Flanagan treated former board member Moi Ali in a manner that meant she felt “obliged to resign from the board”.

It also highlighted the need to improve diversity in the SPA, stating that the board is “male-dominated” and in need of significant cultural change.

Jackie Baillie, acting convener of the committee, said: “The Committee considers Mr Flanagan’s behaviour to be unacceptable on occasion. We would be extremely worried if potential board members were put off from applying to the SPA board because of this.

“Clearly, the SPA has a lot of work to do in improving transparency at the very heart of the organisation – only then will they be able to gain public confidence.”