ONE of the most senior figures in the Scottish Police Authority can today be revealed as the whistleblower who has made allegations of financial wrongdoing at the watchdog.
Amy McDonald, in her capacity as the SPA’s Director of Financial Accountability, raised concerns about an allegedly sizeable misuse of public funds.
However details of the case, which is being heard at an employment tribunal, are under wraps after the SPA was granted an anonymity order.
SNP MP Alex Neil said: "Ms McDonald is clearly a very respected individual and she must be listened to, including by the Parliament. Our Public Audit Committee should invite her in so we can find out what has been going at the SPA, rather than what we have been told is going on."
The Sunday Herald last week revealed that a staff member at the SPA, which oversees Police Scotland and helps set the £1 billion policing budget, had used whistleblowing legislation to make financial allegations about the watchdog.
McDonald, a chartered accountant who has worked for the SPA since 2014, is the claimant and, according to the tribunal office, a preliminary hearing took place in November last year. She has made a public interest disclosure claim.
The allegations pre-date the arrival last year of Susan Deacon as the new SPA chair and it is understood the anonymity order covers the names of third parties named in the case.
Whistleblowers' charity Public Concern at Work (PCaW) last week accused the SPA of trying to “shield” itself from “embarrassment” by applying for the curb.
Picture: McDonald
As the Director of Financial Accountability, McDonald received a salary of up to £100,000 and a remuneration package of nearly £130,000. She was a member of the SPA’s senior management group and has spoken at SPA board meetings.
A website that provides access to historic web pages shows that she was part of the senior team until last year.
Her biography stated: “Amy is a chartered accountant who qualified with one of the 'big 4' firms and worked in practice for eight years across multi accountancy disciplines. Progressing into industry and commerce she has held senior finance roles over the last eight years, latterly as Finance Director of a Scottish based technology company.”
It added: “Amy has worked through significant change programmes and brings her commercial experience to the role of Director of Financial Accountability.”
However, she no longer holds that position and is now in a senior role on the forensics side at the SPA.
Set up as the national oversight body for the single force, the SPA was criticised in December after Auditor General Caroline Gardner published a highly critical report into the body’s “unacceptable” use of public money.
Gardner queried the appointment of three temporary senior staff at a cost of £344,000, and flagged up an early retirement deal given to ex-SPA chief executive John Foley.
She also revealed that the SPA approved relocation expenses payments worth £67,000 for deputy chief constable Rose Fitzpatrick, whose £53,000 personal tax liability was also paid by the organisation.
Labour MSP Jackie Baillie, who was acting chair of Holyrood’s Public Audit committee, described the Auditor General's report at the time as “probably the most shocking example” of mismanagement she had seen.
Tory MSP Liam Kerr said: “The seniority and credibility of Ms MacDonald reinforces some of the key concerns regarding financial impropriety at the SPA. It is essential that the public and parliament have full knowledge of these kinds of allegations and we should thank Ms McDonald for her bravery.”
Daniel Johnson, Labour's justice spokesman, said: "This raises serious questions about how the SPA was being run. The SPA must commission an independent and forensic audit so we can understand the full extent of this apparent misuse of public money."
An SPA spokesperson said: "It would be inappropriate to comment while a legal process is ongoing."
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