The information, published in response to a Freedom of Information request also reveals Police Scotland’s current Chief Constable Iain Livingstone – who once faced a case involving five allegations of sexual assault from a female colleague – retained his membership of the powerful lawyers lobby – the Law Society of Scotland.
It is worth noting, Chief Constable Iain Livingstone - a former solicitor - appears to have retained his Law Society membership – since joining the Police in the 1990’s, through the critical phase of the tribunal hearings into the sexual assault allegations during his time at Lothian & Borders Police - to his appointment as Chief Constable of Police Scotland, and to this date.
The declarations of interests by all officers, regardless of rank – also note Iain Livingstone’s position on the Scottish Sentencing Council – a quango created by the Scottish Government after the retirement of Lord Brian Gill – who once criticised the quango as politicial interference with the judiciary.
The Scottish Sentencing Council’s role is to create sentencing guidelines for the courts - and is currently headed by the Lord Justice Clerk – Lady Dorrian.
However, while the declarations are a welcome window on the interests of Scotland’s senior Police Officers, the lack of detail in comparison to information contained in registers of interest such as those required by Members of the Scottish Parliament – do raise questions any keen financial investigators would quickly notice – such as the flow of salaries, cash, assets and other business interests which may have been purposely placed in relatives names.
The declarations of interests o Police Scotland’s current top cops – which were supplied by Police Scotland’s ‘information unit’ only after an initial refusal to release the information, reveal the following:
CC Iain Livingstone:
Public Appointments:
Member - Independent Steering Group (Op Kenova), Reviewed Annually - No remuneration.
Member - Scottish Sentencing Council, Reviewed Annually - No remuneration.
No Financial and Business interests No Political activity No related party transactions No conflict of interest
DCC Fiona Taylor:
No Public Appointments
Financial and Business interests - Owns a flat which is let No Political activity No related party transactions No conflict of interest
ACC Bernard Higgins:
Public Appointments:
Trustee - Police Care UK (formerly known as Police Dependents Trust), May 2013 - Present - No remuneration.
Board Member - Euro 2020 Local Organising Committee, 2017 - Present - No remuneration
No Financial and Business interests No Political activity No related party transactions No conflict of interest
ACC Angela McLaren:
Public Appointments:
Trustee - The Police Treatment Centres, for a period of 3 years - No remuneration. - Companies House shows Appointed on: 01st December 2018.
Trustee - St George's Police Children Trust, for a period of 3 years - No remuneration. - Companies House shows appointed on 1st December 2018.
No Financial and Business interests No Political activity No related party transactions No conflict of interest
ACC Paul Anderson:
Public Appointments:
Chair Racing Committee, Scottish Canoe Association, 2019-2020 - No remuneration.
No Financial and Business interests No Political activity No related party transactions No conflict of interests
Other Executive Officers
DCC Johnny Gwynne (retired 15/03/2019 but in post at the date of request)
DCC Will Kerr, ACC Mark Williams, ACC John Hawkins, ACC Gillian MacDonald, ACC Alan Speirs, ACC Malcolm Graham, ACC Steve Johnson
No Public Appointments No Financial and Business interests No Political activity No related party transactions No conflict of interest
A previous media investigation into Police Officers interests in Scotland, revealed offices are required to declare their interests, with the information held on a database which can be accessed via Freedom of Information legislation.
The earlier report is published here: COPS & JOBBERS: Scotland’s 1,512 ‘Two Job’ Cops required to declare outside business interests – meanwhile 700+ strong Scots judiciary resist Holyrood probe calling for judges' register of interests
Police Service of Scotland Regulations 2013 - Business interests:
5.—(1) A constable must not have a business interest without the consent of— (a) the Authority, in the case of a senior officer; (b) the chief constable, in the case of any other constable, provided that, in the case of any such constable in whose case the chief constable has an interest otherwise than as chief constable, the chief constable must refer the matter to the Authority for it to consider whether to consent.
(2) If a constable acquires or is likely to acquire a business interest, the constable must forthwith give written notice of that interest to the chief constable or, in the case of a senior officer, the Authority.
(3) If a constable has a business interest and is appointed to the office of chief constable, deputy chief constable or assistant chief constable, the constable must forthwith give written notice of that interest to the Authority unless the constable has previously disclosed that interest to the Authority.
(4) An individual applying for appointment to the Police Service, other than an individual referred to in paragraph (5), must give written notice to the chief constable of any business interest which that individual has or is likely to acquire after appointment.
(5) An individual applying for appointment to the office of chief constable, deputy chief constable or assistant chief constable must give written notice to the Authority of any business interest which that individual has or is likely to acquire after appointment.
(6) An individual or constable is regarded as having a business interest if— (a) that individual or constable carries on any business or holds any office or employment for hire or gain (otherwise than as a constable) in the United Kingdom; (b) that individual or constable resides at any premises where any member of that individual’s or constable’s family keeps a shop or carries on any like business in Scotland; (c) that individual or constable holds, or any member of that individual’s or constable’s family living with that individual or constable holds, any licence, certificate or permit granted in pursuance of the laws relating to liquor licensing or betting and gaming or regulation of places of public entertainment in Scotland or has any pecuniary interest in such licence, certificate or permit; or (d) that individual’s or constable’s spouse (not being separated from that individual or constable), civil partner (not being separated from that individual or constable) or cohabitant (not being separated from that individual or constable) keeps a shop or carries on any like business in Scotland.
(7) For the purposes of this regulation— (a) “member of that individual’s or constable’s family” includes parent, son, daughter, dependant, brother, sister, spouse (not being separated from that individual or constable), civil partner (not being separated from that individual or constable) or cohabitant (not being separated from that individual or constable); and (b) “cohabitant” means a member of a couple consisting of— (i) a man and a woman who are living together as if they were husband and wife; or (ii) two individuals of the same sex who are living together as if they were civil partners.
COPS DECLARE, JUDGES CONCEAL:
While Police Officers have been required to declare their interests for a number of years, members of Scotland's judiciary continue to wage a bitter SEVEN YEAR campaign against proposals to require members of Scotland’s judiciary to declare their interests, and links to big business.
The salary scales of officers in Police Scotland - where all officers are required to declare their interests - show a Police Scotland constable can expect £26,037 per annum going up to £91,179 for a Chief Superintendent with 3 years experience to Assistant Chief Constables: £118,485 , Deputy Chief Constables: £174,741 and the Chief Constable: £214,404
However – Scotland;s judges have no such requirement to declare interests, despite huge judicial salaries which rank as the highest in all of Europe - skyrocketing from Sheriffs on £137,538 a year up to Sheriff Principals on £148,526 a year while judges of the Outer House of the Court of Session earn £185,197 a year and Inner House judges earning £210,876 per annum.
The Lord Justice Clerk (currently Lady Dorrian) earns £221,757 a year, and the Lord President (currently Lord Carloway, aka Colin Sutherland) earns £229,592 a year.
The proposal to bring greater transparency to Scotland’s judiciary - Petition PE1458: Register of Interests for members of Scotland's judiciary - first debated at the Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee in January 2013 – calls for the creation of a publicly available register of judicial interests – containing information on judges’ backgrounds, figures relating to personal wealth, undeclared earnings, business & family connections inside & outside of the legal profession, membership of organisations, property and land, offshore investments, hospitality, details on recusals and other information routinely lodged in registers of interest across all walks of public life in the UK and around the world.
A full debate on the proposal to require judges to declare their interests was held at the Scottish Parliament on 9 October 2014 - ending in a motion calling on the Scottish Government to create a register of judicial interests. The motion was overwhelmingly supported by MSPs from all political parties.
Previous articles on the lack of transparency within Scotland’s judiciary, investigations by Diary of Injustice including reports from the Sunday Herald and Sunday Mail newspapers, and video footage of debates at the Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee can be found here : A Register of Interests for Scotland's Judiciary.
