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First Minister Alex Salmond today published the report of the Ministerial Code Inquiry into a complaint from Iain Gray MSP regarding exchanges at First Minister's Questions.

The report is the second to be carried out by the Rt Hon Lord Steel of Aikwood and the Rt Hon George Reid, Independent Advisers to the First Minister. Lord Steel had lead responsibility for inquiring into this referral.

The First Minister received the report on Friday afternoon.

Welcoming its conclusions, the First Minister said:

"I am delighted with this outcome, which totally vindicates the position of the Scottish Government.

"Independent examination of Ministerial Code referrals in Scotland is a key strength of our system, and we are extremely well served by people of the calibre of our former Presiding Officers.

"It is vital that everyone agrees that we have an excellent system which has produced robust conclusions, and I trust that Mr Gray - who made this referral - will now take this opportunity to make clear that he acknowledges the report in full."

The Executive Summary of the Report states:

• This report presents the conclusions of the Panel of Independent Advisers on the Scottish Ministerial Code on a complaint raised by Iain Gray MSP with the First Minister regarding exchanges at First Minister's Questions (FMQs) and a Point of Order. The exchanges related to prisoners who had absconded from the Scotland's Open Prison Estate (Open Estate)
• The Panel concludes that the First Minister did not mislead Parliament during FMQs on 28 May 2009 or at the Point of Order on the same day, and, therefore, did not breach section 1.1(c) of the Scottish Ministerial Code. The Panel finds that the First Minister's references to the number of prisoners who had absconded from the Open Estate as "16" related to the period from 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009. Accordingly it would not be appropriate for that number to have increased to include a prisoner who had absconded after 31 March 2009
• The Panel finds that the First Minster adhered to established protocol in terms of which any public announcement in respect of any prisoner who has absconded from the Open Estate is an operational matter for the police. The Panel concludes that the First Minister during FMQs on 28 May 2009 did not breach section 1.1(d) of the Scottish Ministerial Code
• This report presents a summary of the key facts considered by the Panel and a description of the methodology it followed in investigating this complaint.

• This is the second time that a matter has been referred to the panel in this way, utilising the arrangements established by the First Minister when he published his updated version of the Scottish Ministerial Code in June 2008. The panel includes in this report an observation on its role

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