SCOTTISH Office officials have had their work over aspects of the
Fyfe-Peterken affair publicly criticised by Sir Robin Butler, the head
of the home Civil Service, and their departmental head, Sir Russell
Hillhouse.
In a letter to
Shadow Scottish Secretary George Robertson, Sir Robin said that Sir
Russell, Permanent Secretary at the Scottish Office, had apologised to
Scottish Ministers because ''a number of
actions and processes were handled by the officials concerned less
well than he would have expected.''
Sir Russell told Sir Robin he was taking action designed to prevent
any recurrence.
Mr Robertson said Ministers still appeared to be refusing to take
responsibility for failure either of themselves or the system they
control. ''This is a Government where Ministers say -- I didn't see the
papers, I wasn't there, guilty but sound asleep.''
He said uncertainties still surrounded the sacking of Mr Laurence
Peterken as chief executive of Greater Glasgow Health Board by Mr Bill
Fyfe, then board chairman, who subsequently resigned.
At the centre of the ''actions and processes'' so unusually criticised
was the sending of a letter, on August 6 last year, from the Scottish
Office to the Treasury inquiring about the possibility of a financial
package being offered to Mr Peterken if he was removed from office.
Sir Robin's letter said the letter ''attributed detailed views to
Ministers at variance with views they had expressed and to which they
would not have subscribed had they been consulted.''
It was signed by Mr Gavin Anderson, then acting head of the NHS in
Scotland. Sir Robin denied that he had since been demoted at Ministers'
request.
He said Mr Geoff Scaife, who became chief executive in September last
year, decided early in November that there was no need for the deputy
chief post and ''senior management'' moved Mr Anderson to the Social
Work Services Group. Although a lower, Grade 5 post, Mr Anderson
retained his higher Grade 4 and salary.
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