THE Scottish Government is currently dealing with seven live cases of harassment and bullying inside it core departments, it has emerged.

Official data also revealed there have been up to 41 such cases since 2013 in the government’s central directorates, which employ around 5200 people.

The government said there had been up to four cases in both 2013 and 2014, nine cases in 2015, ten in 2016, and seven in both 2017 and 2018.

As of 2 July there were “seven live internal harassment and/or bullying cases”, it said.

The information was released in response to a freedom of information request.

In response to a separate parliamentary question from Labour MSP Monica Lennon, the government said it knew of 11 formal complaints of sexual harassment by staff since 2007.

It said it had no record of such complaints against ministers since 1999 and the end of 2017, and no record of any such complaints against their special advisers since 2007.

The 11 complaints against staff since 2007 covered the core government departments and a series of smaller civil servant operations which currently employ around 6850 staff.

It said the cases “were dealt with in line with the relevant internal procedures”.

The information emerged as the government answered a series of freedom of information requests, many lodged by the opposition parties, about Alex Salmond.

The former First Minister was accused by two women in January of sexual misconduct relating to his time in office in 2013.

He has denied harassment and criminality and is taking legal action against the government and its top official, Permanent Secretary Leslie Evans, over the handling of the case.

Backed by a £100,000 crowdfunded appeal, he is seeking a judicial review of the complaint handling process, arguing he was denied a fair chance to respond to the allegations.

The Scottish Government issued similar responses to around a dozen FoI requests asking for details of what ministers knew about the case, records and correspondence.

The government repeatedly said it “cannot confirm or deny whether any information is held” as disclosure “would be likely to prejudice substantially the administration of justice”.

Questions about when and how many times Ms Sturgeon met Mr Salmond and discussed his case after the complaints were lodged were rebuffed on this basis.

Mr Salmond has said he raised his case three times in person with Ms Sturgeon, and was the first person to inform her that he was the subject of the complaints.

The government also cited exemptions from FoI law when asked for any correspondence between Ms Sturgeons and her husband, SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, on the case.

The government this week notified the Court of Session that it intended to defend Mr Salmond’s action “vigorously”, although it did not object to him bringing it in the first place.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "We have processes in place for any employee to report bullying and harassment which they may have experienced in the workplace – and we have detailed the very extensive support which is in place for any employee who needs it.

"The Scottish Government and the civil service unions share a clear commitment to ensuring that there is no place for bullying and harassment in the workplace."