The committee report said the speed at which the harrassment procedure was developed in the light of the #MeToo movement in late 2017 could have had a detrimental impact on its clarity and robustness.

It said more time taken over the drafting of the procedure would have allowed guidance and support to be developed for those involved in the process.

It would also have provided more clarity for those charged with applying the procedure.

Image source, PA Media

Committee convener Linda Fabiani said the two women who made complaints of sexual harassment against Alex Salmond were let down by the Scottish government.

But the SNP MSP said they were also let down by some members of the committee investigating the handling of the complaints.

"I am truly dismayed by the hurt some of the committee leaks will have caused them," she said.

"I apologise to them unreservedly. This is not who we should be as a committee of this parliament."

Speaking to the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme, she condemned the “bad behaviour” which led to conclusions of her committee being leaked.

Ms Fabiania said it was unfortunate that some committee members had commented in the media, and that some MSPs had "prejudged" the committee's findings.

She added: "There are undoubtedly some extremely serious findings in our report and it was clear to the committee that there were serious flaws made in the government’s application of its own process.

"The government must address these to ensure anyone who experiences sexual harassment has the confidence to come forward.”

The committee said it found a "fundamental contradiction" in Nicola Sturgeon's evidence on whether she agreed to intervene in a Scottish government investigation into complaints by two woman against Alex Salmond.

It said that, in a meeting at her Glasgow home on 2 April 2018, Ms Sturgeon "did in fact leave Mr Salmond with the impression that she would, if necessary, intervene".

The report continued: "Her written evidence is therefore an inaccurate account of what happened, and she has misled the committee on this matter."

The committee found this is a potential breach of the ministerial code, but added that James Hamilton's report was the "most appropriate place" to address the question of whether Ms Sturgeon had breached the ministerial code.

Mr Hamilton ruled yesterday that she had not intervened and had not breached the code.

The four SNP committee members said they did not agree with the finding that Ms Sturgeon misled the committee.

David Wallace Lockhart
BBC Scotland political reporter

Eight minutes after the committee published its final report, three SNP members released a statement distancing themselves from some of its findings.

MSPs Alasdair Allan, Maureen Watt and Stuart McMillan accuse some fellow committee members of “skewed focus, overt politicisation and lamentable disregard for complainers”.

They are critical of the civil service when it comes to the handling of complaints.

And they add that they are satisfied with James Hamilton’s findings that the first minister did not breach the ministerial code.

On a number of contentious issues, this committee has split down party lines.

Nicola Sturgeon will argue many of its findings are tainted by the political allegiances of members, and is pointing to James Hamilton’s report as the truly independent inquiry.

Image source, Reuters

The committee looked at how the Scottish government handled the judicial review into the handling of the harassment claims against Alex Salmond.

Mr Salmond said the government was told in October 2018 that it was likely to lose the case, but did not admit it had acted unlawfully until January 2019.

The government ultimately had to pay Mr Salmond's legal fees of more than £500,000 on top of its own costs.

The committee found that the Scottish government was responsible for a "serious, substantial and entirely avoidable situation that resulted in a prolonged, expensive and unsuccessful defence of the legal challenge".

It also criticised the government over its failure to identify all relevant documents and comply fully and promptly with its duty of candour.

It says the Scottish government’s handling of document disclosure during the judicial review proceedings was "seriously flawed".

"It was this catastrophic failure to disclose documents, and to allow statements to be made to the court that all documents had been disclosed when they had not been, that led to the awarding of a high level of costs," it says.

The report notes that Nicola Sturgeon believed it would have been "inappropriate" for her to report the meeting she had with Alex Salmond on 2 April 2018 to government officials.

However, the committee said it was "concerned" that it took until 6 June 2018 for the first minister to inform the permanent secretary about the meetings.

The committee report says it was "inappropriate" for the first minister to continue to meet and have discussions with Mr Salmond on the topic.

It says she should have made the permanent secretary aware at the earliest opportunity after 2 April, and should then have ceased to have any further contact with Mr Salmond on that subject.

The four SNP MSPs on the committee disagreed with this paragraph in the report.

Image source, PA Media

The four SNP MSPs on the committee - Alasdair Allan, Linda Fabiani, Stuart McMillan and Maureen Watt - disagreed with the paragraphs in the report which claim that Nicola Sturgeon misled the committee.

One of those sections was the commitee's finding that it was "hard to believe" that the first minister had no knowledge of any concerns about inappropriate behaviour on the part of Mr Salmond prior to November 2017.

The SNP MSPs said they disagreed on the grounds that it did not distinguish between bullying behaviour and sexual harassment.

They said some evidence to the inquiry indicated Mr Salmond could display bullying behaviour.

Ms Sturgeon had said he could be very challenging to work with, but the MSPs said there had been "no suggestion" the first minister was aware of sexual harassment allegations.

The Scottish government’s handling of harassment complaints, and the subsequent judicial review, was "seriously flawed", according to the report by Holyrood’s Committee on the Scottish Government’s Handling of Harassment Complaints.

The committee also says it finds it hard to believe that First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had no knowledge of any concerns about inappropriate behaviour on the part of Mr Salmond prior to November 2017.

"If she did have such knowledge, then she should have acted upon it. If she did have such knowledge, then she has misled the committee," it says.

The report also concludes that in her written evidence, Ms Sturgeon gave an "inaccurate account" of what happened when she met Mr Salmond at her home on 2 April 2018, and had misled the committee.

There are nine MSPs on the Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints.

The cross-party committee includes four SNP MSPs, two Conservatives, one Labour, one Liberal Democrat and independent Andy Wightman.

It emerged last week that their report will say Nicola Sturgeon had given the committee an inaccurate account.

It is understood that those parts of the report which are critical of Ms Sturgeon were agreed by five votes to four, with the SNP members on the committee voting against.

Image source, PA Media

The Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints will formally publish its full report at 8am, more than two years after it was first established.

The cross-party inquiry was set up after a successful judicial review by Alex Salmond resulted in the Scottish government's investigation being ruled unlawful and "tainted by apparent bias" in 2019.

Committee members have held 14 public evidence sessions, questioning a range of witnesses about the development of the complaints policy that was used unlawfully, the handling of the allegations, Mr Salmond's successful judicial review and the ministerial code.

Mr Salmond used his appearance before MSPs to accuse the first minister of multiple breaches of the ministerial code and argue there was a "malicious" plot to remove him from public life.

These claims were denied by Ms Sturgeon when she was questioned for almost eight hours about her role in the botched investigation.

A leak of the report's findings last week suggested the inquiry concluded that Ms Sturgeon gave an "inaccurate" account of her meetings and phone calls with Mr Salmond about the investigation.

However, Ms Sturgeon told Sky News that opposition members of the committee had "made their minds up before I uttered a single word of evidence."

On Monday, a report from senior Irish lawyer James Hamilton cleared Nicola Sturgeon of breaching the ministerial code over the Alex Salmond saga.

His independent inquiry had been examining whether the first minister misled the Scottish Parliament over what she knew and when.

The report said Ms Sturgeon had given an "incomplete narrative of events" to MSPs, but that this was a "genuine failure of recollection" and not deliberate.

Mr Hamilton said he was of the opinion that Ms Sturgeon had not breached any of the provisions of the code.

Image source, PA Media

The Holyrood inquiry into the Scottish Government's unlawful investigation of complaints against Alex Salmond is to publish its findings at 8am.

This live page will cover the contents of the report and reaction to it.

This is a separate inquiry from that of James Hamilton - who reported yesterday there had been no breach of the ministerial code by Nicola Sturgeon over her role in the saga.

Today’s committee report is expected to conclude that the first minister "misled" the Scottish Parliament.

Ms Sturgeon has insisted she stands by all of the evidence she gave to the committee earlier this month.