Paragraph 5 – Early termination
263.Paragraph 5 sets out the circumstances under which a relevant office-holder’s appointment may be terminated early. They may resign, or they may become disqualified from holding office under paragraph 3 (for example, because they take up employment as a civil servant). They can also be removed from office by the Scottish Ministers where Ministers believe the person is unable to perform the functions of the office or is unsuitable to continue to hold the office.
264.The Scottish Ministers’ power of removal could be used in a variety of different cases – for example, the unsuitability ground could be used because of public statements made by the person which are incompatible with the ethos of the review model. However, it could simply be that the person, while having done nothing wrong, has taken up a role which does not lead to automatic disqualification, but which might have led to them not being appointed had they held that role earlier (see paragraph 3(2)). The power to remove on the ground of being unable to perform the functions could be used where the person has become unwell but does not resign (for example, because they have lost capacity and so can no longer do so).
