LABOUR is push for a change in the law at Holyrood in the wake of a former SNP minister receiving a £7000 golden goodbye despite resigning over alleged sexual misconduct.
The party said it would raise the matter through the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB), the cross-party group in charge of administration at Holyrood.
Labour MSP Kezia Dugdale, who sits on the SPCB, will ask her fellow members to examine what reforms can be introduced to prevent similar payments in future.
The SPCB is next due to meet on Thursday.
READ MORE: Outcry as SNP sex-row minister receives 'golden goodbye'
The move follows the Herald revealing that Mark McDonald was automatically entitled to a “resettlement grant” of around £7,270 despite causing a woman “considerable distress”.
He resigned as minister for childcare and early years on November 4 after apologising for “inappropriate” behaviour, which he downplayed as a failed attempt at humour.
However a week later the Aberdeen Donside MSP admitted he had caused “considerable distress and upset”, and it emerged a sexually suggestive text had been involved.
After a second complaint then surfaced against him, he was suspended by the SNP on November 16, and has been missing from Holyrood ever since.
Despite the circumstances of his resignation as a minister, Mr McDonald was paid a quarter of his additional ministerial salary of £29,083 as a severance grant.
The SPCB is legally obliged to make the payment under the Scottish Parliamentary Pensions Act of 2009 after 90 days, regardless of why a minister leaves office.
Mr McDonald’s case has exposed the way the system treats those who resign under a cloud in the same way it does someone who, for example, was forced to retire from ill-health.
His case has now prompted calls for Holyrood to overhaul the law involved, which MSPs passed unanimously nine years ago.
READ MORE: Outcry as SNP sex-row minister receives 'golden goodbye'
Scottish Labour's Business Manager Rhoda Grant MSP said: “It's clear that the Scottish Parliament must urgently review the law which allows this money to be given and appropriately reform it to avoid such circumstances in the future.
"I have asked Labour's representative on the corporate body, Kezia Dugdale, to raise this with all members of the SPCB on behalf of the party, and seek to examine what reforms can be introduced.”
The Scottish Greens said the issue could be examined by Holyrood’s Standards Committee, which is currently holding an inquiry into “sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct”.
READ MORE: Outcry as SNP sex-row minister receives 'golden goodbye'
A spokesperson said: “An inquiry into sexual harassment is currently taking place in the Scottish Parliament, with a remit that includes a range of potential sanctions.
“The inquiry must therefore look at the introduction of pay sanctions that bring an end to so-called ‘golden handshakes’ in certain circumstances.”
Mr McDonald, 37, has so far declined to comment on the payment.
His conduct is currently being investigated by the SNP.
A Scottish Parliament spokesperson said: "The SPCB will discuss this matter at its next meeting on Thursday."
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