MSPs have been granted a ‘skiver’s charter’ after officials ruled details of the number of times politicians attend Holyrood can be kept secret.
The decision means constituents will no longer be allowed to know how regularly their £72,000-a-year MSP turns up for work.
Officials say releasing attendance details in the future could endanger the ‘physical and mental health or safety’ of politicians.
According to documents obtained by this newspaper, Holyrood staff quietly changed the parliament’s freedom of information policy to block the release of security ‘swipe card’ data after MSPs raised welfare concerns.
The documents show that following the secret change, Nicola Sturgeon complained to parliamentary authorities because her attendance log had already been published.
Statistics relating to the former First Minister were subsequently deleted.
The revelations come amid accusations the ex-SNP leader has rarely been seen at Holyrood since quitting as First Minister in March 2023.
She has spent much of her time writing her biography and book reviews.
Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of ‘missing in action’ and is often absent from Holyrood
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said Holyrood should overrule MSPs – and let the public see how often they attend the Scottish Parliament.
He said: ‘Scottish politicians are frankly acting like children trying to hide a bad exam mark.
‘Taxpayers elect and pay for MSPs to deliver on their priorities and represent them in parliament, yet these same elected officials are now throwing their toys out the pram.
‘Holyrood should ignore these tantrums and not grant MSPs a skiver’s charter. They should publish their attendance in full.’
Documents obtained by The Mail on Sunday show the Scottish Parliament provided information about the number of days that Ms Sturgeon had used her security pass to access the parliament building for the period from March 29 2023 to March 21 2024.
The data showed her pass was only used only once between April and August of 2023, however sources close to Ms Sturgeon claim that this was because she still benefited from a taxpayer-funded chaffeur at the time, which allowed her to bypass security.
The Scottish Parliament quietly updated its policy on MSP attendance data in May, 2024
From September 2023, her pass was used on 42 of 72 sitting days – meaning Ms Sturgeon was not present around 40 per cent of the time.
However, after the Scottish Parliament revealed Ms Sturgeon’s poor attendance, another freedom of information request was submitted for all MSP swipe data.
Documents show that prior to publication, officials sent the statistics as a ‘courtesy’ to members before they were published.
But that sparked widespread pushback from MSPs who did not want the public to see how often they attended parliament, official records show.
Internal discussions between parliament staff noted the data did not include MSPs accessing the building via the car park or the public entrance.
A high level meeting was organised to discuss the continued disclosure of attendance logs on May 17.
Official records show MSPs did not want the public to see how often they attended parliament
Although the Security Office confirmed the accuracy of the passholder swipe data, a decision was made to withhold the information for fear disclosure would or be likely to ‘endanger the physical and mental health or safety of an individual’.
On May 20, MSPs were updated with the new policy on attendance data.
An email seen by this newspaper shows Ms Sturgeon wrote to the Scottish Parliament to complain that her data had been released and everyone elses’ had not.
A response to Ms Sturgeon from officials reads: ‘Thank you for getting in touch and apologies for the confusion that our revised approach to FOI requests of this nature has caused you.’
Scottish Parliament officials said that it had since been deleted, in line with the new policy.
Last night, Scottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton said Ms Sturgeon had ‘some cheek’ to complain.
She said: ‘Scots still bearing the brunt of Nicola Sturgeon’s failed policies will be getting their small violins out for the former First Minister.
‘She has some cheek complaining about this information being published, when she could easily have taken steps to participate more from the backbenches.
‘Her constituents deserve better than a part-time MSP who is clearly more interested in protecting her own reputation, rather than standing up for their concerns.’
A Scottish Parliament spokesman said: ‘This year alone has seen physical assaults on staff and other forms of serious attack at MSPs offices.
‘We’ve also reported to Police Scotland around 500 potentially criminal threats made online towards Members.
‘Against a backdrop of rising intimidation and violence towards elected representatives, the Parliament is adopting an increasingly vigilant approach on releasing information that could compromise the safety of Members.’
