Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Scottish ministers and civil servants will be banned from using mobile messaging applications such as WhatsApp on official devices from next spring. Deputy first minister Kate Forbes said on Tuesday that access to messaging apps would be removed from government devices in line with a commitment to “the highest standards of . . . openness”.The decision, following recommendations made by an externally led review, comes after officials’ deletion of WhatsApp messages during the pandemic, which has prompted an outcry since the start of the official Covid-19 inquiry.“The use of mobile messaging apps increased during the pandemic as staff worked remotely in unprecedented and difficult circumstances,” Forbes said in a statement to parliament. “Having reflected on our working practices, we are now implementing changes.”“Government business should happen on government systems which are secure, searchable and allow the appropriate sharing of information, in line with our statutory duties,” she added. The devolved government would also produce guidelines and conduct training to ensure staff followed the new regulations, Forbes said, with officials able to use approved applications such as Microsoft Teams and email.The Scottish Conservatives on Tuesday said “industrial-scale” deletion of messages by Scottish National party ministers was wrong, hampering the Covid inquiry’s scrutiny of government decision-making.First minister John Swinney, who was deputy first minister when Covid struck, and former first minister Nicola Sturgeon both deleted messages from their devices, though they denied that they related to official business. Forbes, then finance secretary, retained her messages.A review led by Emma Martins, former Channel Islands data protection commissioner, found a lack of understanding around the use of mobile messaging applications, including rules around retention and deletion.The government on Tuesday also updated the Scottish ministerial code, which it said aimed to “support transparency, accountability and independent scrutiny”.The new code enhances the role of independent advisers, who provide counsel relating to ministerial conduct, allowing them to initiate investigations into alleged breaches of the code. At present, they must wait for a referral from the first minister.The change comes after recent ministerial scandals, including the row involving former health secretary Michael Matheson. He resigned in February after his children helped run up a bill of £11,000 in data roaming charges on his work tablet device while on a family holiday.New advisers were appointed this month: Claire Loftus, former director of public prosecutions in Ireland; Sir John Manzoni, a former chief executive of the UK civil service; and Sir Ernest Ryder, a former lord justice of appeal.
