THERE are calls for a review of Holyrood’s golden goodbye system after a former SNP cabinet secretary received £75,000 to help adjust to life after politics despite already lining up a new job while still in government.
Aileen Campbell, whose portfolio included “tackling inequalities”, was paid a resettlement grant of £64,470 after quitting as an MSP in May, plus £12,112 for loss of ministerial office.
However, before leaving her previous job, Ms Campbell, 41, had already landed a new one as chief executive of Scottish Women’s Football (SWF).
The resettlement money was paid to her automatically by Holyrood under a 2009 law which has been criticised for its lack of discretion and clawbacks.
Ms Campbell did not apply for any money, and there is no suggestion of wrongdoing on her part.
However her case has put the system itself under the spotlight.
Disgraced former finance secretary Derek Mackay, who abandoned Holyrood after a sleaze scandal, also got more than £50,000 for no longer being an MSP under the scheme.
An SNP source said: “Helping someone who was in charge of equalities get a soft landing does not look like a good use of public money. It just looks shabby.”
When Ms Campbell was appointed Communities and Local Government Secretary in June 2018, the Scottish Government said her responsibilities included “social justice, tackling inequalities, measures against poverty”.
Resettlement grants worth 50 to 100 per cent of a year’s salary, based on length of service, are paid to all MSPs who do not return after an election, whether they resign or lose.
They are intended “to assist the MSP with the costs of adjusting to non-parliamentary life”.
Ms Campbell announced she was quitting as an MSP in March 2020, citing parenthood as a factor, and wanting “a better work-life balance” with her husband and two sons.
As she had been at Holyrood for 12 years, the Clydesdale MSP was entitled to the maximum grant of £64,470, the first £30,000 of which was tax free.
She also received a second grant worth a quarter of her £48,449 ministerial salary for loss of office.
Such grants are “designed to help bridge the gap while the office-holder adjusts to a lower income or re-establishes commercial or voluntary interests which may have had to be relinquished to avoid any conflict of interest whilst in office”.
However Ms Campbell, a former minister of sport, had already applied for the SWF job in February.
She then ran it past the watchdog on ministers and private sector jobs, which in April set conditions for accepting it.
READ MORE: Former SNP cabinet secretary ordered not to give 'unfair advantage' to new employer
On May 7, the day after the election, the SWF said it had picked the winning candidate to be CEO “within the last fortnight”, but did not name them.
SWF chair Vivienne MacLaren, said: “We had a number of suitable applications for the position and it was an extremely competitive selection process. This is a very important role for the future of SWF and the game as a whole. We therefore invested significant time and effort into the process to ensure we found the right person to lead SWF into the future.”
Ms Campbell continued as Communities Secretary until May 19, when she was replaced by Shona Robison in a reshuffle.
SWF finally unveiled Ms Campbell as the CEO on June 9, saying she had been “an outstanding candidate” during the recruitment process.
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “There’s little justification for politicians being automatically entitled to large dollops of taxpayers’ cash on their way out.
“With MSPs effectively on fixed term contracts, these farewell payments are not a luxury afforded to many of the taxpayers who have to pay for them.
“With the public finances in desperate need of repair, these lavish golden goodbyes are ripe for being cut.”
A Scottish Liberal Democrat spokesperson added: “We know the system as a whole could work better because it rewarded Derek Mackay for quietly leaving politics when the power should have existed for his constituents to recall him long ago.
“At the start of this new Parliament there is an opportunity to look afresh at how our politics operates.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Parliament said: “The Scottish Parliament has previously stated legislation sets out the terms under which resettlement grants are made. The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body has no discretion in relation to the making of payments. It is a matter for the individual thereafter.”
The SWF said Ms Campbell “followed the same application procedures as all other candidates” and was “happy to abide by Acoba’s advice”. It refused to give her salary.
The Herald corresponded with Ms Campbell last week about her new role with SWF.
She failed to answer questions about the resettlement grants, including whether she ought to give some of the money to a good cause to reflect the circumstances.
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