Karen Watt will leave her post as chief executive of the Scottish Housing Regulator in a fortnight to take up the post of principal private secretary to Alex Salmond, effectively the top civil servant running his private office.
The move comes just a few months after Ms Watt’s report into Glasgow Housing Association and its failings in terms of some governance issues and relationships with other stakeholders led to the exit of three of its top team, including £180,000-plus chief executive Taroub Zahran, strategy boss Donna Stevenson and head of finance Robert Flanagan, as well as board member Fred Shedden.
Previously, Ms Watt had been referred to by those opposed to the landlord’s role and remit as “GHA’s only friend”. The change in her stance towards the agency fuelled numerous accusations that the independence of the regulator had been politically manipulated by ministers keen to squeeze the GHA.
Mr Shedden told The Herald last month he had to stand down as vice-chairman of GHA because Ms Watt had made it clear his continued presence on the board would not be acceptable, adding that the regulator, Glasgow City Council and the Scottish Government had combined “to destabilise the organisation and to undermine senior management”.
As well as Mr Salmond, Ms Watt will be answerable to the head of the government’s strategy and ministerial support directorate, which is headed by Angiolina Foster, herself a former head of the regulator when it was Communities Scotland and an imposed GHA chief executive.
The move was announced on the regulator’s website. It read: “Karen Watt, chief executive of the Scottish Housing Regulator, will be leaving the agency on October 16 to take up the post of principal private secretary to the First Minister, within the Scottish Government. Michael Cameron, currently head of inspection, will become the acting chief executive.”
As part of Ms Watt’s remit, she will have virtually uninhibited access to the First Minister, senior officials, and members of the office staff. She will oversee the activities of the First Minister’s staff, find staffing replacements, and ensure the office is operating effectively and efficiently.
But sources within the housing sector were puzzled by the move, some claiming her anonymity as a civil servant had been compromised over the GHA publicity.
One source said: “It’s hard to say whether this is promotion, demotion, or a sideways move.
“But what it effectively does is clear the decks for the government to proceed with their plans for how the regulator should be reshaped.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “The appointment was made following the normal, established procedure for appointing a principal private secretary to the First Minister.”
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