Fears for Scots civil service ‘captured’ by Stonewall

Feminist groups have raised concerns over how much influence the controversial LGBT group has on the recruitment process of senior officials

The Scottish government has been accused of breaching rules governing the impartiality of the civil service by involving a controversial LGBT+ charity that it funds in the recruitment and promotion of senior civil servants.

Ministers also allowed Stonewall to train officials who later endorsed support for contentious changes to gender identity law among colleagues.

The extent of the charity’s reach into the Scottish government is revealed in documents obtained under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act. These suggest that members of a civil service recruitment panel were encouraged by Scottish government “LGBTI and Allies networks” to communicate with Stonewall as part of their recruitment campaign.

A 2018 campaign to recruit 150 senior “band 2” officials was seen as an “opportunity to support the Scottish ministers,