The Scottish Government has banned WhatsApp for government business.

Scottish Government ministers and staff will be banned from using WhatsApp for official business.

Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes made the announcement in response to an external review of the use of messaging services.

It comes after a UK Covid inquiry revealed that officials and ministers had deleted WhatsApp messages exchanged during the pandemic.

Forbes said his government was committed to “standards of openness, transparency and accountability”.

He said the use of WhatsApp or any other “non-corporate” messaging services for official business will end from spring next year.

“Government business must be conducted on government systems that are secure, searchable and allow appropriate sharing of information consistent with our legal duties,” Forbes said in a statement to parliament.

MSPs were told that non-corporate messaging apps would be removed from devices, and a “technical environment” would be set up, so they could not be used on official devices.

Ministers and staff should use corporate-approved apps, such as Teams and email, for official business, Forbes said.

He said that they will be instructed not to use personal phones for official work.

The deputy first minister told parliament that the use of WhatsApp and other messaging apps during the pandemic was “understandable in such a stressful time”.

The Scottish Government’s policy on mobile messaging applications states that any content relating to decisions must be recorded on corporate records.

Forbes said government officials acted in accordance with the policy, but that they had “reflected” on the policy.

Scottish Conservative MSP Sandish Gulhane said the announcement was a “clear admission” that what ministers and officials had done during the pandemic was wrong.

He urged the government to immediately ban the use of WhatsApp.

Gulhane also accused the ministers of violating ministerial code by failing to pre-empt the statement.

Scottish Labour’s Daniel Johnson accused government figures of redacting and removing information that should have been on public record during the pandemic.

Former Prime Minister Hamza Yousaf announced a review of the use of WhatsApp and other messaging services in March.

The external review looked at the use of WhatsApp and personal devices to conduct official business.

It was led by Emma Martins, Data Protection Commissioner for the Channel Islands.

Its report, which was delivered to the government last month, was published in Parliament alongside Forbes’ statement.

The report found that there was little evidence of “consistent and widespread knowledge, understanding, or application” of mobile messaging apps, including “retention, export and deletion rules”.

Scottish Government policy requires ministers and officials to transcribe the “highlights” of business discussions on mobile messaging apps.

Ms Martins said: “In the absence of any information about how much or how often such duplication has occurred, it is impossible to draw any comfort from the policy.”

While he acknowledged that the “unprecedented challenges” of the pandemic could lead to breaches of some government rules, he said it was “unacceptable” for procedural changes to persist “without proper scrutiny and review”. is

A number of Scottish Government figures, including Nicola Sturgeon and John Sweeney, have deleted messages that referred to government business during the pandemic, the Covid inquiry has heard.

Sturgeon and Swinney were accused by opposition parties of deleting messages on an “industrial scale” but said any “significant” points were entered on corporate records and only informal messages were deleted. was done

Other Scottish government ministers – including Forbes, who served as finance secretary during the pandemic – said they had retained their WhatsApp messages.

The UK government has also been criticized for its record-keeping, with former Scottish Secretary Alastair Jack telling the inquiry that he had deleted all his messages to free up memory space on his phone.

The Scottish Information Commissioner, who oversees freedom of information laws, also reviewed how officials and ministers use and maintain informal communications.

The government watchdog said the Covid inquiry had raised “significant practical concerns” about how ministers use messaging services such as WhatsApp.