Mr Neil asks the board members what is going to be done about this because it is "unacceptable".

Current Scottish Police Authority board member George Graham sasy he does not feel he is "in a bun fight" with Ms Ali.

Mr Neil asks what he is going to do about Ms Ali being refused information. 

Mr Graham says in relation to the information that Ms Ali requested yesterday he will look into it and if Ms Ali wishes the historic case looked at again then he will look into that. 

Former Scottish Police Authority board member Moi Ali says she sought evidence that the former chair said she was a "one-trick diversity pony".

Ms Ali says this was part of the appraisal processs and the former chair read it from a piece of paper.

She says she sought the paper from the chief executive of the SPA and was told it had been securely disposed off.

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Mr Neil says the phraseology used by the former chair is totally unacceptable.

Ms Ali says she asked about how the paper was destroyed and she says she does not think the chief exexutive shredded the paper.

Mr Neil asks if the paper was destroyed after Ms Ali's request and she says yes and she says the chief executive refused further information about this.

SNP MSP Alex Neil asks Ms Ali what information she was refused from the SPA.

Former Scottish Police Authority board member Moi Ali says it was information from private meetings but they were meetings she had attended. 

Ms Ali says she wanted minutes and all the previous drafts of those minutes because she is concerned that there is not a level playing field.

Mr Neil asks if they saw this as "a bun fight" between Ms Ali and the board.

Ms Ali says she is at a disadvantage and she was refused the information from the chief executive. 

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SNP MSP Alex Neil asks former Scottish Police Authority board member Brian Barbour about the appointment of the chief constable.

Mr Barbour said he had a general fear and concern that people wanted to fit the criteria to the person.

He says the concern was about both the political and official side of government, but he says he did not have any evidence about this, but it was a "real worry".

Mr Neil says that worry should not be made public without evidence.

Former Scottish Police Authority board member Moi Ali says that the board members were not made aware of HMICS concerns by the chair.

Ms Ali says the board should have had the evidence base before deciding to move from public to private sessions. 

Moi Ali says she believes HMICS wrote to the board with concerns and they were ignored.

Ms Ali says its views were ignored which she thinks was foolhardy.

HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland Derek Penman says he expected his letter would be shared with the board.

Mr Beattie says members of the board did not receive it.

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Current Scottish Police Authority board member George Graham says he was fully aware of Mr Penman's views.

Mr Grahams says it is important that the SPA can hold some meetings in private.

Current Scottish Police Authority board member David Hume says he was fully aware of HMICS concerns and says the board was not foolhardy.

Mr Beattie asks if it is sufficient to ensure that the SPA comes out of this stronger.

Current Scottish Police Authority board member George Graham says he would certainly want to see any formal HMICS recommendations implemented.

Mr Graham says it would be "foolhardy" to ignore formal recommendations made following a review. 

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SNP MSP Colin Beaattie asks about the SPA's review of governance and asks how this will work alongside the HMICS review.

Current Scottish Police Authority board member David Hume says when facing a serious audit the essential thing is to carry out your own audit, to provide evidence.

Mr Hume says there will be a report at the June board.

Current Scottish Police Authority board member George Graham says this could be described as HMICS interference or government interference but it is similar to what is going on at the moment.

Mr Graham says he sees it as legitimate stakeholders making this work.  

Current Scottish Police Authority board member David Hume says he has no evidence of items going missing off agendas and he would have been unhappy had that been the case.

Mr Hume says he has no recollection of anyone raising that as an issue at the time. 

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SNP MSP Colin Beattie asks former Scottish Police Authority board member Brian Barbour if meetings were held in private in his day.

Mr Barbour says in princple the board met in public but there were private sessions.

He says SPA decisions were changed by government officials within a couple of months.

Mr Beattie says during the first year there were significant issues around Police Scotland and SPA.

Mr Barbour says he would not have expected intervention from the government.

Current Scottish Police Authority board member David Hume says the board is there to support policing but scrutiny is a key part of what is does.

Mr Hume says he welcomed the governance review and he thought the chair's proposals were interesting. 

He says given that the previous scrutiny system was not working, it had to be improved. 

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Current Scottish Police Authority board member George Graham says the role of the SPA is to maintain the police service in Scotland, to be a supporter and an encourager as well as a challenger.

Mr Graham says more needs to be done in public, but it is about striking a balnce.

SNP MSP Willie Coffey says he is interested in the here and now and getting reassurance of the current situation.

Mr Coffey asks if the SPA is doing a good job at holding Police Scotland to account. 

HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland Derek Penman says there still is room for improvement but that there has been some improvement. 

Mr Penman says the chair has improved relationships with Police Scotland. 

He says: "The authority must have the confidence of the public." 

Current Scottish Police Authority board member David Hume says On Baord is quite silent on dispute resolution and he says it is welcome HMICS will look into that area.

HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland Derek Penman says there are issues around interpretation of cabinet responsibility. 

Mr Penman says HMCIS will work with Audit Scotland on issues.

He says there are also issues around the authority of the chair and will offer a commentary and judgement on that within the report. 

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Tory MSP Ross Thomson asks if the situation could have been handled more appropriately.

Current Scottish Police Authority board member George Graham says he does not know the detail of this situation.

Mr Graham says if was to receive such a letter he would have sought a face to face meeting and he says he would confront it head on.

Mr Thomson raises the issue of the chair Andrew Flanagan being fit to continue and says Mr Flanagan told the committee he was.

Former Scottish Police Authority board member Moi Ali says that the treatment she has received may have effect on people wanting to join boards in the future.

Ms Ali says she has been doing a lot of work to promote equality.

She says her experience would make her less likely to join a public board in the future but that she would always dissent if she felt necessary because she takes her poisition as a board member seriously. 

"I don't think their is a culture of bullying in the SPA," she says.

Ms Ali says she felt bullied and that the treatment she received was different to others.