Scottish Government ending use of WhatsApp after Covid inquiry criticism
The Government had previously agreed to end its use of WhatsApp and other non-official messaging applications by spring next year.
Opposition MSPs have said the new policy is a 'clear admission' from the Government that the pandemic deletions were wrong.
The policy comes into force on Friday though some teams will continue to phase out the app by the end of the year.
As part of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, it emerged ministers and top civil servants deleted WhatsApp messages which had been requested by the inquiry team.
Nicola Sturgeon has come under fire from Opposition MSPs for her WhatsApp deletions (Andrew Milligan/PA)
The Conservatives attacked former first minister Nicola Sturgeon in particular for deleting messages, though she said they did not relate to Government business.
Her successor, Humza Yousaf, ordered a review of mobile messaging which was carried out by Emma Martins – the former Channel Islands data protection commissioner.
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said the policy will apply to all Scottish Government employees, including contractors, senior civil servants, special advisers and ministers.
Kate Forbes said securing data is a priority for the Scottish Government (Jane Barlow/PA)
Ms Forbes said: 'We are setting out a clear approach to ending Government use of mobile messaging apps, and this will support wider work to deliver on our commitment to openness and transparency.
'The use of mobile messaging apps increased during the pandemic as staff worked remotely in unprecedented and difficult circumstances. Having reflected on our working practices, we are now implementing changes to the use of such apps.
'This follows on from actions to implement other recommendations from Ms Martins's externally-led review including updating our hybrid working policy.
'I want to reassure the public that it is a priority of this Government to maintain secure and searchable data, ensuring compliance with all records management rules.
'We will continue to act to ensure our data policies are robust, especially considering technological advances.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
16 minutes ago
- The Independent
Hospices warn of facing ‘huge implications' after assisted dying Bill passed
Hospices and end-of-life care professionals will face 'huge implications' and 'seismic change' after the assisted dying Bill cleared the House of Commons, leading organisations have warned. MPs voted 314 to 291 in favour of the legislation, which would allow terminally ill adults with a life expectancy of under six months to end their lives, at third reading on Friday. Despite warnings from opponents around the safety of a Bill they argued has been rushed through, the Bill will now move to the House of Lords for further debate and scrutiny. Both Houses must agree the final text of the Bill before it can be signed into law. Reacting to the vote, Jan Noble, interim chief executive of St Christopher's Hospice, said: 'Today's vote to pass the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill has huge implications for hospices and end-of-life care professionals. 'It is vital that the Government now provides assurance that the impact on hospices will be properly considered and that high-quality end-of-life care is made available to everyone across the country, and for that we need a better funding model for hospices. 'Our position on any change of law remains neutral but as the home of the modern hospice movement we're committed to providing expertise and evidence to policymakers and we're now urging the House of Lords to carefully consider the complex views of the public, particularly those with experience of health inequalities. 'We recognise this may be a difficult moment for many of those working in hospice and end-of-life care, as well as the wider health and social care sector. 'We are now looking to both the Government and the House of Lords for further reassurances that they will address the concerns raised by multiple professionals' bodies.' Toby Porter, chief executive of Hospice UK, said the vote represented 'a seismic change for end-of-life care in England and Wales' and the introduction of assisted dying would have 'a huge impact' on hospices. He said: 'Already, too many people don't get the care they need at the end of their lives. Today's decision brings the urgency to improve palliative care into even sharper focus, particularly for the most vulnerable members of society. 'Should the Bill become law, the Government has four years to bring about a transformation in palliative and end-of-life care. 'Nobody should ever feel that they have to choose an assisted death because they fear they won't get the care and support they need. As it stands, we are concerned this could become the case. 'The Bill does not detail where assisted dying will take place, or to what extent hospices will be involved. This leaves many unanswered questions for hospices, who are already under immense pressure.' Mr Porter added that Hospice UK also remained neutral on the principle of assisted dying but would work with other hospices and the Government 'to navigate the many operational challenges it poses'. An amendment to the Bill requiring ministers to report within a year of its passing on how assisted dying could affect palliative care was also approved by MPs ahead of Friday's vote. James Sanderson, chief executive of palliative care and bereavement charity Sue Ryder, said: 'We all care about how and where we will die and this review is a vital step in making sure everyone gets the care they need at the end of their life. 'Sue Ryder maintains a neutral position on assisted dying, but we are concerned that gaps in care could be leaving some people feeling it's their only option. 'Our research found that 77% of people felt that terminally ill people could be forced to consider an assisted death because the end-of-life care they need isn't available. That must change – no matter how the Bill progresses in its next stages through the House of Lords. 'We are calling for the Government to back our plan for a new ecosystem for palliative care that would mean more people can die with the care and the dignity they deserve.' Marie Curie welcomed the amendment, but warned that 'this will not on its own make the improvements needed to guarantee everyone is able to access the palliative care they need'.
The National
19 minutes ago
- The National
Lisa Nandy 'either dishonest or ignorant' after benefits cuts claim
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told BBC Breakfast that her constituents feared 'coming off PIP and into work' because they worried about losing access to Personal Independence Payments if employment did not work out for them. But critics have pointed out that PIP is not related to a person's employment status, suggesting that she was either not across the detail of the benefits system or was attempting to 'deliberately mislead' the public. READ MORE: BBC issues correction after Debate Night 'bias' on eve of by-election PIP is given to people to help with the added costs of living with a disability and claimants do not have to update the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) of changes in their employment status. Interviewed about the cuts – which are expected to push 250,000 people, including 50,000 children into poverty – Nandy said: 'Lots of my constituents worry about coming off PIP and into work because it's so […] hard to go through a reassessment process, very gruelling process, in order to get back onto it. 'So one of the reforms that we're introducing is that you can try work, without risking losing your benefits and go back onto PIP if it doesn't work out without any kind of reassessment.' Lisa Nandy is either lying or has grossly misunderstood what her constitutents are saying here. PIP is NOT an out-of-work benefits. 1 in 5 people on PIP are in work. Noone on PIP WOULD EVER say this. Full stop. I will be complaining to the PCC. — Dr Jay Watts (@Shrink_at_Large) June 20, 2025 Kirsty Blackman, the SNP's DWP spokesperson, told The National: 'There are only two explanations here - either a Labour Cabinet member is wholly ignorant of the current system and the cuts to disability her government is planning or Lisa Nandy is in fact trying to deliberately mislead the public on the consequences of Keir Starmer's cuts. 'Either way it is evidence of just how desperate and detached the Labour Party has become and either way it won't wash with the public who can see these cruel cuts for what they are - an attack on the day to day lives of disabled people.' The cuts, which are expected to save around £5 billion from the £326bn total cost of the social security system, are expected to result in a substantial rebellion from Labour MPs when they go to a vote early next month. READ MORE: Do you get a free car because you are disabled? The Motability Scheme explained Government whip Vicky Foxcroft quit on Thursday evening saying she was not prepared to persuade others to vote for them – or back them herself. Others in Government are reportedly on resignation watch. Blackman added: 'With even Labour's own whips resigning because they won't vote to make disabled people poorer, the real question is if Anas Sarwar and Scottish Labour MPs are going to stay true to form and support their Prime Minister no matter the cost.' (Image: PA) Greens MSP Maggie Chapman (above) said: 'Labour MPs need to be able to explain to constituents what different benefits actually are. Lisa Nandy should know that PIP is not an out of work benefit - the clue is in the name. So, either she is being extremely dishonest, or she doesn't understand the basics of what PIP is. 'People rely on PIP to get by in their day to day lives – to help with essentials like getting washed and dressed, managing medicines, eating and drinking, and mobility. Labour wants to cut that support for 1.3 million people, throwing lives into turmoil and pushing many into poverty.' The proposed cuts include making it harder to claim PIP, in a bid to stop an estimated 400,000 people from claiming, while around 800,000 new claimants will get lower incapacity top-ups of £50 per week, down from the present £97 per week. Labour were approached for comment.
Western Telegraph
28 minutes ago
- Western Telegraph
United Ireland should be new state that ‘can be better for all of us'- Varadkar
Leo Varadkar also said he hopes the current Irish government takes the decision to establish a forum to lead discussions on unity, and also appeared to dismiss concerns of potential loyalist violence in reaction to a united Ireland. Mr Varadkar, who stood down as taoiseach in April last year, said he believes he will see a united Ireland in his lifetime but warned it is not inevitable. He said that he has had no regrets so far since leaving elected politics, and is enjoying both 'a lot of personal and intellectual freedom to say what I think'. Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams listens to former taoiseach Leo Varadkar (Liam McBurney/PA) He was speaking at an In Conversation event with Rev Karen Sethuraman at St Mary's University college in west Belfast, hosted by Feile an Phobail and Ireland's Future. Former Sinn Fein president and West Belfast MP Gerry Adams was among those in the audience for the event. Mr Varadkar stressed that a united Ireland 'has to be a new Ireland that is better for everyone'. 'That includes a bill of rights, guarantees civil protections and liberties,' he said. 'Unification, in my view, is not the annexation of six more counties by the Republic of Ireland. It's a new state and one that can be better for all of us, an opportunity that only comes around every 100 years, which is to design your state and design your constitution.' In terms of what the current Irish Taoiseach is doing, Mr Varadkar described the Shared Island Unit, which was set up when he was Taoiseach, as really positive. But he said he would like to see the Irish Government lead a forum ahead of unity. 'Just saying it as an aspiration isn't enough anymore, it should be an objective and an objective is something you act on,' he said. 'One of the ideas that I would put forward, which could help to move on this discussion, is the establishment of some sort of forum.' He said there was the New Ireland Forum in the 1980s, and the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation in the 1990s. Former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that there is a 'strong case' to convene the parties interested in union (Liam McBurney/PA) 'I think there is a strong case now for us to convene the parties that are interested in talking about this, unions, business groups, civil society in a forum to have that discussion, but I don't see how that can happen if that isn't led by the Irish Government, and I hope at some point during the course of this five-year government, a decision will be taken to do that,' he said. Meanwhile, asked how he felt potential violent opposition to a united Ireland could be handled, Mr Varadkar suggested he felt 'only a very small minority may turn to violence'. 'I know there are people south of the border who, when I talk to them about reunification, express to me concerns that there might be a very small minority within unionism who may turn to violence,' he said. 'I don't think we should dismiss that as a possibility. I don't think it will happen, to be honest. 'In two referendums, both north and south, people would be very clearly giving their preference as to what should happen, it would be quite a different situation to when partition happened 100 years ago and it wasn't voted for. 'I don't think that would arise but I think it's a reasonable question.' Meanwhile, deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly suggested Mr Varadkar was 'wrong in terms of the trajectory' towards a united Ireland, insisting the number of people voting for nationalist parties, around 40%, 'hasn't moved since 1998'. Mr Varadkar said he was in politics long enough to not respond to someone else's comments without hearing them in full, but said the case he is making is not just based on the percentage of people who vote for nationalist parties, adding it is clear the percentage voting for unionist parties has fallen. Earlier, Mr Varadkar visited nearby Colaiste Feirste where he heard about the growth in Irish medium education, and plans to build a new Irish Language Heritage and Interpretive Centre, An Spas Din. School principal Micheal Mac Giolla Ghunna said: 'We have grown a vibrant Irish language community from our base in the Gaeltacht Quarter, leading to challenges for us in terms of accommodation and teacher provision. 'But far from limiting our ambitions, we are now using the Sportlann facility and initiatives like our GaelStair heritage project to offer our pupils and the wider community further opportunities.'
