Leslie Evans is the Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government. In this role, Evans is the principal policy adviser to the First Minister and Secretary to the Scottish Cabinet. She is also the Principal Accountable Officer for the Scottish Government, with personal responsibility for the propriety and regularity of Government finance and for economic, efficient and effective use of all related resources. Evans is the senior civil servant in Scotland and leads more than 5,000 civil servants working for the Scottish Government, supporting development, implementation and communication of government policies, in accordance with the Civil Service Code. At a UK level, she is a member of the Civil Service Board.
Early life
Evans was born in Northern Ireland. She was educated at High Storrs School in Sheffield and studied Music at the University of Liverpool. She has lived in Scotland since 1985 and is a feminist.
Career
Evans joined the Scottish Government in September 2000, having spent 20 years working for local authorities in Scotland and England. Her previous post within the Scottish Government was Director General Learning and Justice. Previous positions include Head of Local Government Constitution & Governance Division, Head of Public Service Reform Group, Head of Tourism, Culture and Sport, and Director of Culture, External Affairs and Tourism. In May 2015, it was announced that Evans would be the first woman to become the Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government, taking up the position on 1 July 2015. As of 2015, Evans was paid a salary of between £160,000 and £164,999 by the Scottish Government, making her one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time.
In 2020 former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond alleged serious misconduct by Evans in her handling of accusations of sexual misconduct against him. Salmond won a civil action against the Scottish government over its complaints process, which was ruled to be "unlawful", "procedurally unfair" and "tainted by apparent bias", and Salmond called for Evans to quit following the ruling. This court case cost the Scottish government more than £600,000. After a High Court case in which Salmond was cleared of allegations of rape, details of memos sent by Evans emerged. She stated "We may lose the battle, but we will win the war.”, in relation to the case against Salmond, which he argued did not "seem the words of an impartial public servant", and he suggested it was evidence she had been responsible for the unlawful and biased complaints process. Noel Dolan, who was Nicola Sturgeon’s senior special adviser when she was deputy first minister under Salmond, also said Evans had to go for the “good” of the Scottish civil service, adding: "The original inquiry was a mess. Leslie Evans should stand down. As she cost the Scottish taxpayer a large amount of money, she should have gone in 2019.” In January 2020, it was announced that Evans will remain in post until spring 2022.
