(Image: NQ)
The First Minister has been urged to intervene in a transparency row over the decision by Scotland's ethics watchdog to shred councillor freedom of speech case files after just 12 months.
Alastair Redman, an independent Argyll and Bute councillor for Kintyre and the Islands, has asked John Swinney to examine the destruction of records held by the Standards Commission for Scotland after discovering that files relating to his 2025 disciplinary hearing had been permanently deleted.
The Commission confirmed in response to a subject access request submitted by Mr Redman on September 20 that the digital and physical files relating to his hearing were destroyed on June 12, 2026. The destruction took place under a revised disposal policy finalised on May 25, which limits retention of hearing files to 12 months after the commission issues its full written decision.
In a letter to the First Minister, Mr Redman warns that the policy could make it harder to scrutinise how disciplinary decisions are reached, and has called for a review of the wider implications of short retention periods across Scotland’s public bodies.
He said: “A policy that permits the rapid, retroactive erasure of investigation records within twelve months severely limits accountability, public scrutiny, and future auditability.”
Mr Redman’s concerns are shaped by his experience of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, in which sub-postmasters fought to challenge allegations based on evidence generated by faulty accounting software. The scandal exposed the devastating consequences when people struggle to access the information needed to challenge decisions made against them.
Before becoming a councillor, Mr Redman ran Portnahaven Post Office on Islay for 12 years and was among the sub-postmasters hit by the scandal. The faulty accounting system made it appear that money was missing from branch accounts, and he said he paid thousands of pounds of his own money, possibly approaching tens of thousands, to cover apparent shortfalls. His own finances were affected by a scandal in which postmasters were wrongly blamed for losses caused by software faults.
Mr Redman says that experience shaped his view of the importance of preserving records and allowing people to scrutinise decisions made by powerful institutions. He sees a parallel with the destruction of his Standards Commission case files, arguing that access to underlying records is important when people want to understand how a decision about them was reached.
Councillor Alastair Redman
He said: “To discover that a Scottish public integrity watchdog finalised a policy shortening its record retention periods, and then permanently deleted my investigation files just days later, triggers an inescapable feeling of deja vu.”
The commission’s retention policy states that files relating to cases which proceed to a hearing are kept for 12 months from the date its full written decision is issued, unless the decision is subject to an appeal.
Read More:
Mr Redman says the files destroyed in his case included internal emails, memoranda, investigation notes and other material that could help establish how his case was handled. He is asking the First Minister to consider whether the approach to records disposal across regulatory bodies provides sufficient protection for transparency and public accountability.
The commission found that Redman breached the councillors’ code by alleging that in a private conversation with a council officer that a 15-year-old pupil was likely to have placed recording equipment in girls’ toilets or changing rooms because he cross-dressed, and by saying people who cross-dressed were more likely to be sexually deviant. The panel suspended him from council and committee duties for two months.
In his letter to Mr Swinney, Mr Redman wrote: “I urge your office to review the systemic implications of short-window document disposal policies across our regulatory bodies to ensure they align with the high standards of transparency the Scottish public rightfully expects.”
Mr Redman said: “Anyone who lived through that [Horizon IT scandal] nightmare knows first hand what happens when individuals are denied access to the background data, internal logs, and information trails held by powerful bodies. It fundamentally damages institutional trust.”
He added: “I am not making legal allegations of malicious intent, but the institutional optics are deeply concerning. Public bodies must be fully auditable.”
The Standards Commission is responsible for deciding whether councillors and members of certain public bodies have breached their codes of conduct.
Possible sanctions include censure, suspension and disqualification. A suspension can prevent a councillor from attending council and committee meetings, restricting their ability to take part in council business for the period imposed.
The Commission’s written decisions provide the public with its conclusions and reasons for them. However, records of the investigation and the hearing may contain correspondence, notes and other material which is not reproduced in the published decision.
Mr Redman's concerns come amid wider questions about the standards system, the freedom of councillors to speak on matters of public interest and the handling of records in disciplinary cases.
The Herald revealed the commission’s decision to reduce the retention period for hearing case files from five years which led to the destruction of 24 case files. The National Records of Scotland has been examining whether the commission’s records management arrangements comply with its records management plan.
The debate has also followed legal challenges involving the standards system. In the case of Glasgow councillor Fiona Higgins, the Court of Session ruled that the Standards Commission had acted unlawfully in refusing to admit seven documents at a hearing. The commission is appealing.
Fiona Higgins (Image: Colin Mearns)
The councillor said his request to the First Minister was not an allegation that the commission had deliberately destroyed records to conceal wrongdoing, but a call to examine the consequences of the policy and whether similar arrangements across other public bodies could restrict scrutiny.
In his letter, Mr Redman said he respected the commission’s independence but argued that this did not remove the need for accountability within Scotland’s public administration. The issue also raises questions about how records should be balanced against data protection obligations and the practical need for public bodies to manage information securely. National Records of Scotland guidance says public authorities should have arrangements governing how records are managed throughout their life, including when they should be destroyed or preserved. Retention periods can vary according to the type of record and the purpose for which it is held.
Mr Redman wrote: “While I respect the structural independence of the commission they remain accountable to the wider framework of Scottish public administration.”
The Standards Commission said the decision to reduce case-file retention periods to one year was made by commission members on May 25, 2026, following a review intended to ensure personal data was not held longer than necessary under data protection rules.
The Commission said full written hearing decisions, detailing the evidence, submissions and reasoning, are permanently retained, while decisions and press releases are published on its website for five years.
It added that Mr Redman had attended his hearing, received the written decision before publication and had the right to appeal the February 2025 finding that he made disrespectful and discriminatory comments about a child, but chose not to do so.
A spokesman said: “The Standards Commission is satisfied, therefore, that there is transparency around these decisions and that councillors are able and, indeed, expected to scrutinise them.”
“The Standards Commission is satisfied, therefore, that Mr Redman had every opportunity to scrutinise the decision.”