SPSA Chief Mulhern suspended

[Taggart]

19 January 2009

STATEMENT FROM SPSA - LATEST COURT MOVES ON CHIEF EXECUTIVE AND DISCIPLINARY PROCESS

On Friday 9 January 2009 the SPSA Board announced its intention to pursue the investigation of disciplinary matters relating to the conduct and performance of its Chief Executive David Mulhern. This followed a Sheriff Court ruling that overturned earlier legal arguments put forward by Mr Mulhern that sought to block the Board's right to hold such a disciplinary hearing.

Today, in an eleventh hour move by Mr Mulhern's new legal team, he has formally appealed the Sheriff Court decision that ruled on 9 January in SPSA's favour.

SPSA has concluded that the best way to proceed for all parties is to settle these legal arguments in the highest appellate court in Scotland. Both parties are seeking to persuade the Court of Session to hear the case soon. We hope that this may be before the end of January.

Subject to the court finding in favour of SPSA's position, as the Sheriff Court has already done, the proposed disciplinary hearing would then take place as soon as practicable.

In the meantime, Mr Mulhern remains suspended from his post of Chief Executive pending an investigation into separate allegations.

Vice Convener George Kay said:

"In late November last year the SPSA Board raised a series of significant concerns with Mr Mulhern about his conduct and performance. That list of issues has not changed and the Board still awaits his response to them. Nearly two months on, all we seek is for Mr Mulhern to respond to these concerns.

"Since then, legal arguments from Mr Mulhern have sought to effectively block the Board's right to hold a hearing. We very much hope that we can get to that position but we have concluded that, in order to do so, we must settle these legal arguments once and for all. A further hearing in the Court of Session now provides such an opportunity.

"This disciplinary process is clearly taking longer to resolve than we would like. However, we have strengthened interim leadership arrangements in place and I want to again urge staff to be patient as we seek to reach a conclusion to this."

[Daktari]

From tomorrow's Herald
Why chief is now force’s biggest threat

Just three months ago it all seemed so different, at least in terms of the public face presented.
In its first annual report the Scottish Police Services Authority was gushing with self-praise over how it and its chief executive had performed in their debut year.
Interim convener George Kay insisted the agency was a "fleet-footed and responsive organisation", helping Scottish policing deal with the changing demands.
"I believe the annual report demonstrates what a successful year of considerable achievement we have had", he said.
"I have to pay tribute to the hard work of the staff at every level of the organisation."
That was late October.
Within a month the SPSA was at war with itself.
The chief executive, who from the platform of the annual report celebrated the "excellent progress" of year one and looked forward to year two, was now the biggest threat to the agency and his alleged behaviour had brought about the very real prospect of the sack.
Either the garden had never been so rosy as had been portrayed, or Mr Mulhern busied himself for a full month gathering upwards of an "extremely serious" complaint per day.
He faces 37 allegedly serious complaints and significant issues of concern centring around his conduct.
Until these are resolved the SPSA cannot appoint a full-time chief executive to deliver its ambitious aims.
Attempts to discipline Mr Mulhern have resulted in a bizarre and protracted series of court actions and major questions about how a body supposed to revolutionise Scottish policing has been and will continue to be run.
Following Monday's Court of Session hearing, the disciplinary saga could run for the best part of a year.
A quicker resolution would see Mr Mulhern walk away with as much as £100,000, or considerably more.
For one of the most influential police figures in the UK, David Mulhern has kept a distinctly low profile.
His uncompromising style, which forced through so many changes to our forces, could well be his downfall.
One senior political source said: "It suited the Scottish Government to have David Mulhern heading the SPSA because he had it in him to fire the people those keen on a centralisation agenda wanted out of the way. He's never been easy to work with and it's fair to say hasn't made many friends. The stupidity of the SPSA board has been to allow this to go public."
Last night Tory MSP Bill Aitken, who is chairman of the Scottish Parliament's justice committee, added his voice to the calls for a prompt resolution to the saga.
He said: "The current situation is clearly totally unsatisfactory and the priority now is to have this matter resolved as soon as possible. I don't think we can have a situation, with all due respect to the interim chief executive, that there is no official leadership of the authority until the matter is resolved in court."
Labour's justice spokesman Richard Baker added: "To have an acting chief steer an organisation like the SPSA for eight months and with so much work on the horizon is a shambolic situation. The justice secretary needs to look at how we got here and frankly Mr MacAskill can't sit any longer on the sidelines."

Legal twists and turns
• December 5 The Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA) is set to hold a disciplinary hearing into the conduct and performance of its chief executive David Mulhern, but Mr Mulhern successfully seeks interim interdict to prevent the hearing being held. The SPSA appeals.
• December 9 Sheriff sanctions notice of new internal proceedings against Mr Mulhern but rules against an attempt to have him suspended.
• December 16 Sheriff refuses SPSA motion to recall the interdict on the basis that it is unclear who employs Mr Mulhern.
• December 17 Scottish Government backs plans to axe Mr Mulhern after officials attend SPSA board meeting.
• January 9 Sheriff issues written statement ruling that Mr Mulhern should face disciplinary action. Mr Mulhern suspended.
• January 19 Mr Mulhern due to hear grievances against him but lodges appeal that morning with the Court of Session to overturn sheriff court ruling.
• January 27 SPSA fails in bid to overturn appeal.

[Taggart]

With over 40 complaints outstanding against him, the SPSA have unbelievably decided to use the Scottish taxpayers money to ‘reward’ their former Chief Executive with a significant pay off.
It really does appear, as also evidenced by the pay offs to the SCRO experts that the more incompetent you are the better the rewards!

http://www.spsa.police.uk/news/statemen ... id_mulhern

Statement by SPSA on the departure of David Mulhern
09 April 2009

The Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA) has today announced that its Chief Executive David Mulhern is to leave the organisation.

Mr Mulhern, who has been involved since last November in a legal dispute with SPSA over an ongoing disciplinary process, departs the organisation with a mutually agreed settlement of £90,000.

He leaves the organisation with immediate effect.

SPSA Vice Convener George Kay said:

"As staff and stakeholders have been aware, the SPSA Board has been engaged since last November in attempts to hold Chief Executive David Mulhern to account over concerns we had with his conduct and performance. Mr Mulhern in turn initiated a series of legal challenges that have delayed that disciplinary process, with a Court of Session appeal due to have begun later this month.

"While confident of our legal position being recognised in the coming weeks and months, as a Board we have been mindful of the ongoing costs to the organisation of this protracted legal process - in time, in legal fees and in the development of the organisation as an effective service provider for Scottish policing.

"What has become increasingly clear is that the relationship of trust and confidence so necessary between a Board and a Chief Executive has broken down. Without such a working relationship it is not possible to agree the right strategic direction for the organisation, nor deliver the right day-to-day leadership with staff and stakeholders to support that.

"That is why we have agreed a settlement in which Mr Mulhern leaves his post as Chief Executive with immediate effect. I believe the agreement we have reached is in the best long-term interests of SPSA, and will allow the organisation to quickly enter a new phase of development with fresh leadership at an executive level.

"This has been a difficult last few months for SPSA but we now have a resolution that will allow everyone to move forward and focus on what's important - our customers, our staff, and our performance. With our new Convener Vic Emery taking the chair of the organisation in January, the important task of recruiting a new Chief Executive truly offers us an opportunity to usher in a new era in the leadership of SPSA."

[Gerald Clough]

That is never an easy issue. Even if an organization believes a payout resolution feels like a "reward," they have to balance it against the cost of pursuing another outcome, the chance that the outcome might yet include a payout, and the effects of a long process on the organization. Many of us have been there, perhaps gritting our teeth and paying off a plaintiff in a lawsuit with an amount less then the likely cost of fighting for years it to what we know will be a finding in our favor. The payoff was both an actual savings and removed a constant distraction that consumed resources and nerve fiber.

[g.]

It really does appear, as also evidenced by the pay offs to the SCRO experts that the more incompetent you are the better the rewards!

(ahem)....perhaps you haven't been keeping up with the current financial problems in the U.S and the CEO's of these banks, investor firms, and auto manufacturers. Pay-outs abound.

[less facetiously, what Gerald said: ditto]

g.

[Outsider]

Add up everything the identification of Shirley McKie from Y7 has cost the UK taxpayer and we must be talking banker's bonus type money.

[Taggart]

Gerald,

You are so right, but you need to look a little deeper to understand what an absolute debacle this situation really is.

The SPSA was set up a mere two years ago to revolutionise forensic services in Scotland. It was a knee jerk reaction in an attempt to be seen to do something as result of the McKie situation.

But it was half baked, and brought in without any real organisation or proper leadership.

If I tell you some two years later the organisation is currently working to 9 different sets of Terms and Conditions for its staff you will perhaps realise how far they have to go. Or is that how little they have progressed?

They took over the staff from the eight different police forces in Scotland, along with their own new staff. They have been unable two years down the line to have one set of terms and conditions for all their staff, so currently have to operate using all the differing relevant terms and conditions. Nine in total.

A truly farcical situation, which is further exposed by not being able to take disciplinary action against their very own Chief Executive! If things had been done properly from the start it would have been crystal clear who the Chief Executive’s boss was. And he would not have been able to successfully challenge the SPSA. And of course he could have been properly disciplined, and if found guilty of any charges could have properly been dismissed. Without compensation or ‘reward’. I use the word reward given the total incompetence of both the organisation and indeed the Scottish Executive to prove to whom he was technically answerable to!

Once again the Scottish public have to foot the bill for the incompetence of the establishment in Scotland.

And what next for the SPSA? I have it on excellent authority they are sitting back waiting for the outcome of the Public Inquiry before taking further action. And I also have it on good authority that certain individuals are living on borrowed time. It really is quite shameful of the organisation to use the Inquiry as a lever to carry out the next series of cleansing.

By then of course the Asbury settlement will have been made and those responsible for that misidentification will be publicly named and shamed.

I have to hope that the SPSA finally get a true leader to replace Mulhern. The decent people within the SPSA deserve no less.

In the meantime I await the evidence of the SPSA at the Inquiry, and more interestingly the evidence of David Mulhern who will be able to give his version of events and of life within the SPSA!

[Daktari]

So David Mulhern has settled his case against his former employer for the sum of £90,000.
Like Shirley McKie's claim it is a lot less than he had originally sought, but he was facing further disciplinary action.
He may yet claim the 3% increase other SPSA employees got, but then he would have to admit the SPSA were his employer
Anyway the good news is that he will still appear before the Judicial Inquiry.
He’s got nothing to lose now.

[RL Tavernaro]

The terms of Mulhern's settlement typically would contain provisions for confidentiallity regarding certain matters, and specifically prohibiting disclosure of defined details. If so, will he be able rely on that to curtail his testimony during the Inquiry?
Regards, RLT

[Taggart]

RL,
Even although there are normally strict confidentiality clauses built into any compromise agreement, they do not cover having to give evidence at any Court or Public Inquiry.
The SPSA if, sorry I mean when, asked about the actions of Mulhern will have to respond. Similarly the compromise agreements given to the experts who left the service will properly be questioned, given vast sums of the public purse have been used to try and resolve matters.
The SPSA will have to tell us exactly how much each of the experts was given and the exact reason behind their financial settlements.
Likewise when asked, the four experts will have to divulge the amounts given to them.
Further media coverage today exposing the farce of the SPSA.

http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/oth ... s_body.php

Questions remain about role of police services bodyLUCY ADAMS, Chief Reporter April 10 2009
For the public at least, it was an auspicious start. The proclaimed aim was to save money, improve accountability and remove the duplication in back-office services for the country's eight police forces.

What was created, according to Ricky Gray, the former deputy chief constable of Strathclyde police, was a "constitutional time bomb".

Established under the Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2006, the Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA) was set up to produce efficiency savings by centralising the provision and procurement of training, IT and forensic services. It was also to maintain the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA), the country's leading crime fighting unit.

However, questions were raised about its structure almost as soon as it came into being, following a series of high-profile departures including that of Graeme Pearson, former director- general of the SCDEA.

In September 2005, David Mulhern, who is in his early 50s, was seconded to the Scottish Executive as interim chief executive of the new authority. In January 2007 he became chief executive of the SPSA.

The former deputy chief constable of Central Scotland Police soon made public his desire to centralise services and grow the responsibilities of the authority to take in areas such as motorway policing.

Such calls proved unpopular, as did the revelation that the body set up to save money would in fact have to pay VAT on purchases.

As a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB), the authority has already been forced to pay more than £1.8m in VAT to the Treasury.

When the 2006 legislation was enacted, the SCDEA became a maintained part of the SPSA and Mr Mulhern became the accountable officer for the agency. This was despite the fact its director- general had in the past been autonomous and answerable directly to ministers.

Last year the board also agreed that change was required to differentiate the authority from the board. To do this would require an amendment to the 2006 act.

In the meantime, the board agreed a compromise in which it sits in the morning to deal with SCDEA matters and separately in the afternoon to consider the other aspects of the authority.

Then, in December last year, attempts by the SPSA board to discipline Mr Mulhern resulted in a bizarre and protracted series of court actions and prompted major questions about how a body supposed to revolutionise Scottish policing has been and will continue to be run.

Last night Mr Mulhern said: "I am pleased that this matter, which has extended over several months, has now been resolved. I have maintained silence throughout in recognition of the respect I have for the police service, the SPSA and its hardworking staff.

"I hope the organistion continues to thrive and realise the high expectations that many hoped for it during its early period of evolution."

It remains to be seen whether ministers will now allow amendments to clarify the legislation governing the SPSA, the boundaries between operational functions of the SCDEA and the back-office remit of the SPSA.

While personalities have played a part, the "constitutional time bomb" that contributed to the departures of both Mr Gray and Mr Pearson may now have to be resolved.

http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Polic ... 5161049.jp

Police chief in disciplinary row pockets £90k pay-off
By MARTYN McLAUGHLIN
ONE of Scotland's most senior police officials who was taken to court over serious discipline issues will leave his post with a £90,000 payoff, it was confirmed yesterday.

David Mulhern had been involved in months of legal wrangling with the Scottish Police Services Authority after it said it had "significant issues of concern" over the chief executive's conduct and performance.

But the SPSA, which controls police training, IT, forensics, and procurement for Scotland's eight police forces, has now agreed a settlement.

The beleaguered organisation, which has been accused of interference in the operations of the Scottish Crime and Drugs Enforcement Agency, had already been struggling with finances before Mr Mulhern's settlement was agreed.

While it has spent millions on consultants, training courses for new police recruits have been cut, with constables being used as instructors instead of sergeants, and seven IT staff left last month through a voluntary redundancy programme.

Amid concerns of "ongoing costs" as part of the court action, the SPSA have now agreed a deal which will see Mr Mulhern leave his £105,000-a-year post with immediate effect.

He will have to hand back his £30,000 BMW car, a BlackBerry, and a mobile phone, along with other property.

A spokeswoman for the SPSA said that Mr Mulhern was not entitled to benefits from the pension fund, but will be refunded for personal contributions he made since March last year.

The 52-year-old, who was appointed chief executive in January 2007, has a colourful history. While assistant chief constable of British Transport Police, he derided the organisation's "crap and awful" image.

Mr Mulhern spent 24 years with Strathclyde Police, where he sent the first mounted patrols into housing estates. He was also responsible for helping Rwanda establish a police force following the 1994 genocide.

He had raised a court action in December to block moves by the SPSA to call him to a disciplinary hearing. The agency had 37 "extremely serious" complaints and "significant issues of concern". It is understood they were related to his style of management.

He was granted an interim interdict blocking the hearing but that was overturned by a judge at Glasgow Sheriff Court on 9 January. The case was referred to the Court of Session after Mr Mulhern appealed the decision later that month.

In January, Mr Mulhern was suspended over "other allegations", details of which the SPSA would not specify.

The Court of Session appeal, due to have begun later in April, has now been dropped as part of the agreement, which confirms that Mr Mulhern, a former deputy chief constable with Central Scotland Police, will dismiss all outstanding court actions against the SPSA.

George Kay, vice-convener of the SPSA, said: "What has become increasingly clear is the relationship of trust so necessary between a board and a chief executive has broken down. Without such a working relationship, it is not possible to agree the right strategic direction for the organisation."

and perhaps the most telling artricle.....

http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/oth ... licing.php

The issue of accountability goes to the heart of policingThe farcical goings-on at the Scottish Police Services Authority were anticipated by many people who, like myself, had long warned about the set-up and structure of the organisation. The authority has decided, rather belatedly, to remove its chief executive from public office after a series of significant and expensive challenges in the civil courts.

There are many across Scotland who will take pleasure in this outcome. I do not. The failures here relate not merely to the fact that the chief executive was unsuitable for the role. The issues raised in respect of David Mulhern's conduct and performance were allowed to develop due to a series of fudges involving senior civil servants at the Justice Department, their opposite numbers within the Association of Chief Police Officers for Scotland and their subsequent silent acquiescence.

The chief executive, supported by Mervyn Rolfe, the now departed first convenor, and backed by an ineffective SPSA board, seemed to be at odds with the stated wishes of the Scottish Parliament. There appeared to be no unity over strategy and their business case did not appear to justify this approach.

As a result, the chief executive presided over an authority which seemed to give him unbridled power, despite repeated advice and information. As a consequence, the Scottish police service lost a large number of valued members of staff, and threw away significant advantages as well as resources. Those who should have intervened just sat on their hands.

These matters are far too important to be resolved unseen by people who so often appear to be unaccountable. In addition, the basic failure to provide Mr Mulhern with a clear contract of employment even allowed him to question the authority of his own board to discipline him. If the chief executive of such an important police support service thought he was not accountable to his board then who was he accountable to?

The issue of accountability goes to the very heart and soul of modern day frontline policing and how the people of Scotland are protected from crime. In essence, it is about making sure Scottish officers, such as those at the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, are able to make important and often very difficult decisions based solely on operational criteria and not on some back office deal about budgets, personnel and the like.

It is very hard to believe that the introduction of the SPSA was the result of nearly 10 years of discussions between civil servants and police chiefs. Though it is instructive to remember that those discussions were born in the light of Donald Dewar's declared intention to rationalise the current set up of the eight police forces. Special interests however, ensured that political attention was diverted effectively by a more "reasonable" target - the creation of a unified back office support organisation later called SPSA.

After such a long lead-in period, I could hardly imagine a more confused and poorly planned implementation for any new organisation. How it was decided to shoehorn the SCDEA into this arrangement was equally difficult to understand. Many Scottish politicians certainly do not understand that decision to this day.

Now is the time to move forward. I hope sincerely that those involved will today look themselves in the mirror and consider what part they played (or failed to play) in the development of this new element of Scottish justice.

The farce around the creation of the SPSA has made it all the more important to ensure future plans concentrate on what is good for our communities and deals with their priorities. Too often officials judge these issues by what is convenient and useful to them personally. The true cost of this approach to the public, in terms of resources, cash and staff loyalty, is too significant to be ignored.

If this episode is to have a happy ending a newly shaped police service supported by a focused SPSA is required. At the same time, the creation of an independent SCDEA will ensure that it is capable of taking on wider responsibilities in the specialist area of covert law enforcement. Now is the time for our politicians to step up to the plate and play their part. As our democratically elected members, it is for them to state clearly what the future shape of policing in 21st-century Scotland needs to be.

This is not, nor should it ever be, merely a private conversation between bureaucrats. Crime impacts on all of us but particularly affects the most vulnerable members of our community. Decisions about how it should be dealt with are far too important to be left to the small privileged managerial elite.


Professor Graeme Pearson is head of the unit for the study of serious and organised crime at Glasgow University and former director general of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency.

[Taggart]

The SPSA has just advertised for a new Chief Executive to replace David Mulhern.

http://www.veredus.co.uk/job/Chief_Exec ... tion_pack/

Job title: Chief Executive

Remuneration: Salary to be in the range £110,000 - £125,000

This is a unique opportunity to take the strategic lead in an organisation with over 1,600 staff, 25 locations and a budget exceeding £100million. The Scottish Police Services Authority provides a range of vital support services which underpin the effectiveness of modern policing and the wider criminal justice system. Established in 2007, our responsibilities range from training and education, through the management of police information and intelligence services, IT services and a comprehensive crime scene to court forensic service.

We are now seeking an exceptional individual with an impressive track record to take us to the next level and deliver our challenging strategic targets. Providing overall leadership and vision, you will enjoy a high level of autonomy and deliver a significant impact on our priorities and long-term development. You will establish excellent relationships with the Scottish Police Service, Scottish Government and a wide range of public sector bodies and agencies, and ensure that our financial and operational objectives are delivered to the highest level of performance and professionalism.

An inclusive and visible leader who motivates and empowers others, your considerable history of strategic management includes significant achievements at a senior level within a similarly large and complex organisation – in any sector.

However the job description contains the single most hypocritical passage I have ever seen. Remember as you read what are supposed to be the ‘values’ of the SPSA, that the SPSA Board have spectacularly failed to deal with the experts who they know misidentified prints in the Marion Ross case. In fact they have gone further by jeopardising further cases by allowing discredited experts to prepare and present evidence in Scottish Courts. Now let us read what the ‘values’ of the SPSA are:

Our Values

We will be honest and professional ensuring that we are well informed and highly proficient across all our activities

We will be accessible and accountable ensuring that quality services are available when our partners and stakeholders need them

We will be an integral part of the Scottish Criminal Justice System, earning the trust, respect and confidence of our partners

We will be positive and enthusiastic colleagues

We will support our customers by providing services that are efficient, flexible and cost effective.

Perhaps the job description should have added that the new chief executive needs to have a spine to be able to deal with the fallout of the Fingerprint Inquiry? Mind you it is obviously not a requirement for SPSA Board members!

[Pat A. Wertheim]

The SPSA has just advertised for a new Chief Executive to replace David Mulhern.

What do you think, Taggart, should I apply for the position?

[Big Wullie]

There was an article in Yesterdays Sunday Mail Looking for a new boss of SPSA but for some strange reason it cannot be found online ?

Seems they are struggling to find any takers despite a big salary, and will accept someone outwith the Police with no experience. Sounds a bit like the old SCRO (No Experience)

They are seeking the help of an English agency in trying to find a new Boss, Hard times eh ?

I will endeavour to post the article later once scanned to Flickr

[Big Wullie]

Daktari

Perhaps you should apply:



Larger more readable version here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26453069@N ... 9/sizes/l/

I feel I am being drawn down to your standards again Daktari in slagging each other.

Can you not simply just debate and answer the questions ?

Surely in joining such a forum as this, Your intentions would surely have been to debate and put your case across to the public and what better chance to do this here on this well read forum by Fingerprint Experts but no Daktari all you are trying to do as usual is distract from the real issues.

Sharon

I will look out the full video and get back to you re: Peter Swann's answer.

Back Shortly

Daktari

Please stay off the "Buckfast" your rants are getting worse

Big Wullie

[Big Wullie]

Sharon

Pater Swann's answer is this:

They do I agree but looking at them it's the pressure caused by "something"(Inaudible)


Again Sharon I will need to listen to the full version which will be tomorrow now as it is 1.46 am here, but I promise I will do this tomorrow.