Instead, her request has been passed to parliamentary business managers to be considered under the Scottish Parliament’s separate “members’ corrections” procedures.
The intervention came after Douglas Ross raised concerns in the chamber about the length of time it had taken Ms Constance to act, and questioned what opportunity MSPs would have to scrutinise any proposed correction before the Christmas recess.
The Tory MSP told the Presiding Officer that the Cabinet Secretary had only now sought to amend the record, despite Professor Jay writing to her on September 26 to identify what she said was a misleading use of her words during a debate on group-based child sexual abuse and exploitation.
Douglas Ross at committee (Image: Andrew Cowan)
The Presiding Officer confirmed that no request had been made by Ms Constance to give a statement to Parliament.
She told MSPs: “A mechanism exists where a member can seek to correct any inaccuracy on their part within 20 days of the publication of the relevant proceedings. That time limit exists because official reports are then finalised and they cannot be changed again.”
She added that other options included writing to her and to business managers, but said that a ministerial statement had not been requested.
Moments later, Ms Constance rose on a point of order to confirm that the Official Report itself would not be amended.
She told the chamber she had received confirmation that her proposed change fell outside the “Official Report remit” and that her request was instead being forwarded to the business team for consideration under members’ corrections procedures.
The disclosure follows evidence given earlier in the day to Holyrood’s Education, Children and Young People Committee, where Ms Constance admitted she had made a “personal and direct apology” to Professor Jay in a phone call that was not minuted by an official — despite ministerial code rules requiring civil servants to be present for discussions relating to government business.
Professor Jay also told the committee that the Scottish Government had never initially offered to correct the Official Report, but instead proposed either a private letter from the minister or a clarification being added to the minutes of the National Strategic Group on Child Sexual Abuse.
Asked directly whether she would welcome a correction to the Official Report, the academic replied: “Yes, I would.”
Ms Constance told the committee she had not corrected the record because she believed she had been making a “general debating point” and was unsure how a formal correction would “do justice” to the clarification Professor Jay was seeking.
She also said she believed the issue had been “clarified and remedied” through the publication of minutes from the strategic group, which she said Professor Jay had been content with.
Ms Constance also said she would have no objection if the First Minister asked the independent advisers on the ministerial code to examine the matter.
Education committee (Image: Andrew Cowan)
Labour leader Anas Sarwar said Ms Constance’s position was untenable. He said: “Alexis Jay has written twice to Angela Constance asking her to correct the record, she has failed to do so. She has today at the Education Committee made the same plea openly, and for Angela Constance to simply say she’ll consider it, demonstrates a minister that is completely out of her depth and who doesn’t get the gravity of the situation here.
“She misrepresented the views of Professor Jay to find an excuse not to have an inquiry into grooming gangs and child sexual exploitation.
“She should have corrected the record immediately, rather than being dragged kicking and screaming, with multiple questions and multiple debates in parliament – many of which she refused to turn up for – and a motion of no confidence in which she still refused to correct the record.”
Mr Ross said afterwards that Ms Constance’s evidence to the committee had “only confirmed her position as Justice Secretary is untenable”.
The Tory MSP said: “Her private apology to Professor Jay proves that even she knows she was wrong to misrepresent her views.
“But this lying SNP minister also brazenly admitted another breach of the ministerial code by admitting she didn’t have an official in the room while she made that call.”
