Tommy Sheridan loses legal battle over decision not to give him social work job

Former Socialist MSP Tommy Sheridan has lost his legal battle to have Scotland’s highest civil court overturn a decision not to give him a social work job.

Sheridan instructed lawyers to go to the Court of Session in a bid to judicially review the actions of Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership bosses.

The organisation wrote to Sheridan to tell him that to employ him as a social worker in Glasgow would create an “unacceptable level of risk” for the local authority.

The move came after Sheridan had applied to become a criminal justice social worker with the council.

In his job application, he disclosed how he had been given a three-year prison sentence in 2011 for perjury. A jury at the High Court in Glasgow concluded that he had lied on oath during his successful defamation action against the News of the World newspaper.

The court heard that social work bosses then sent him a letter in August 2024 telling him the conviction presented an “unacceptable level of risk” to Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership.

More communications to Sheridan told him that future applications for jobs with the organisation would not be “progressed”.

This has prompted Sheridan to instruct lawyers to go to Scotland’s highest civil court in a bid to get Glasgow City Council to overturn its decision.

Earlier this year, Sheridan’s lawyer Mike Dailly told Lord Young that the council had acted unlawfully in its decision. However, in a written judgement issued by Lord Young on Thursday, the court found that social work bosses acted lawfully.

Lord Young said he agreed with submissions made by lawyers acting for the local authority that the decision made by social work bosses couldn’t be judicially reviewed.

He wrote: “I agree with the submission for the respondent that it makes no difference that, in this case, the petitioner’s complaint relates to a refusal by the respondent to consider entering into a contract of employment.

“The context in which the respondent sent these letters to the petitioner was whether the petitioner was viewed as a suitable candidate for employment as a social worker.

“This was an employment situation where parties are free to decide whether to enter into a contract or not.

“He enjoys no private law right to be considered for employment by the respondent, so he is seeking to fashion a right to be considered for social work jobs through the application of broad public law concepts.

“If the petitioner’s argument were accepted, then it would follow that every applicant for a public sector job in Scotland could potentially challenge the job application process using the judicial review procedure.

“I find that the petition is incompetent for the reasons advanced by the respondent, and it falls to be dismissed.”

At earlier proceedings, Mr Dailly said the body which regulates social work in Scotland – the Scottish Social Services Council – had assessed Sheridan as being a suitable candidate for working in the profession.

He added: “It’s a simple matter – the petitioner has been assessed as being a fit person for the profession by the statutory social work body.

“He has also been assessed as being suitable to work with children and younger people under the PVG scheme.

“The petitioner has been told he cannot be a social worker. However, the Scottish Parliament has allowed the SSSC the role and responsibility to determine who is a fit and proper person to be a social worker.

“The SSSC says the petitioner is a fit and proper person. I say the decision made by the council is irrational – it cannot say the petitioner cannot be a social worker.”

Mr Dailly was speaking during a judicial review brought by Sheridan used to lead the Scottish Socialist Party, which won a number of seats at Holyrood in 1999 and 2003.

Sheridan served as an MSP for Glasgow between 1999 and 2007.

He took the News of the World to court in 2006, alleging it defamed him after reporting he was an adulterer who visited swingers’ clubs.

He was paid £200,000, but he was later convicted of lying in court during this civil action and was sentenced to three years in jail.

On social media last summer, he revealed his future plans in response to a suggestion that he should stand again as an MSP in 2026.

He posted: “I just graduated as a professional social worker from Glasgow Caledonian University after a two-year master’s degree, so I am applying for jobs in that profession just no,w but who knows what will come to pass by 2026.”

Lord Young also dismissed concerns that the council acted irrationally in the light of the SSSC allowing Sheridan to be registered with the organisation.

He added: “I do not consider that the respondent’s concern about employing the petitioner comes close to being viewed as irrational.

“His registration with the SSSC simply confirms that he meets the minimum statutory requirement for employment.

“It does not prevent an employer from applying its own additional criteria before interviewing or offering employment.

“The existence of a conviction for perjury is likely to be of some relevance to some employers considering whether to employ an individual as a social worker.”