Scotland Secretary Alister Jack has insisted no civil servants should be allowed to work under Humza Yousaf’s new independence Minister.
Alister Jack wrote to the UK’s top civil servant to raise concerns about the “constitutional propriety” of the role.
The UK Government secured a victory last year when the Supreme Court closed the door on Holyrood being able to organise indyref2 unilaterally.
The decision has since fuelled a debate on whether officials in the Scottish Government can work on independence.
Labour peer George Foulkes wrote to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to question Yousaf’s decision to appoint Jamie Hepburn to the £99,516 a year role.
Jack, responding for the Government, wrote: "I am concerned at the First Minister’s decision to appoint a Minister for Independence.
"This decision is completely out of step with the real priorities of the public, which include continuing to tackle the cost of living, growing Scotland’s economy, tackling NHS waiting lists, ensuring our energy security, and improving transport links.
"In my role as Secretary of State for Scotland I wrote to the cabinet secretary [Simon Case] and asked him firstly to advise on the constitutional propriety of appointing this ministerial role in light of United Kingdom Supreme Court's ruling of November 23, 2022, and secondly requested assurance that no UK civil servant will be engaged in this new department.
"I strongly believe in the need to uphold the reputation and impartiality of the civil service in Scotland and I understand that this is a matter for the Scottish Government permanent secretary in the first instance and my political colleagues have written to him on this matter."
It comes after the UK Government effectively vetoed the Scottish Parliament’s gender recognition legislation, which passed in December.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "The First Minister appointed a ministerial team that reflects the priorities he will pursue in government – including tackling child poverty, improving public services, building a fairer, greener economy, and giving people the information about devolution and independence that they need to make an informed choice about Scotland's constitutional future.
"As ministers have outlined to the Scottish Parliament, there is a democratic mandate for an independence referendum.
"The Scottish Government remains ready to engage with the UK Government to give people in Scotland the right to choose their constitutional future in line with the result of the 2021 Scottish Parliament election which returned a clear majority in favour of a referendum."
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