Nicola Sturgeon and her husband are being called to give evidence by a parliamentary investigation into a botched Scottish government inquiry into misconduct claims against Alex Salmond. The cross-party inquiry is due to call Salmond this autumn when it starts oral hearings, which will investigate his allegations that senior figures in the Scottish government and Scottish National party orchestrated claims tat he was guilty of serious sexual offences. The Holyrood committee, by the former culture minister Linda Fabiani, confirmed on Monday tthat it would also call Peter Murrell, Sturgeon’s husband and SNP chief executive, to answer Salmond’s claims that SNP officials helped concoct the charges against him. The committee has sought internal emails and messages sent and received by SNP staff. Salmond was cleared of 14 charges of sexual assault, including one of attempted rape, by a high court jury in March after nine women, including senior civil servants and Scottish National party figures, accused him of assaulting them while he was first minister. The inquiry was set up after the Scottish government admitted in January 2019 it had mishandled an internal inquiry into misconduct claims against Salmond made by two senior female civil servants, after he launched a judicial review of that process. Leslie Evans, the permanent secretary and Scotland’s most senior civil servant, said the internal inquiry had the appearance of bias because it was carried out by an official who had contact with the two complainants before the inquiry began. That raised doubts about its independence. The Scottish government has paid Salmond £512,000 to cover his legal costs for that judicial review. Evans is expected to be the first witness in mid-August, with committee members pressing for all the witnesses to do so under oath and for witness sessions to take place in the parliamentary chamber, to ensure it can happen in public with correct levels of social distancing. Other senior figures being called include Liz Lloyd, Sturgeon’s chief of staff, and the two previous permanent secretaries, Sir John Elvidge and Sir Peter Housden, who were in charge when the incidents of which Salmond has now been cleared allegedly took place. The human resources official who oversaw the internal inquiry, Judith MacKinnon, is also due to be called. Fabiani said on Monday their inquiry would investigate the Scottish government’s policy-making on harassment and its culture; the events leading up to the judicial review; and allegations against Sturgeon that she breached the ministerial code. It is thought the committee will investigate allegations dating back to 2008. Angela Constance, another former minister on the inquiry panel, said: “It’s time to proceed with pace.” Sturgeon will face detailed questions about what she knew about the misconduct and sexual assault allegations against Salmond. She has already admitted meeting Salmond and talking to him three times before she alerted Evans to their contact, but denies any wrongdoing. It emerged during Salmond’s trial that she had a further secret meeting in late March 2018 with Salmond’s former chief of staff and one of the nine complainants in the criminal trial – a meeting Sturgeon had not previously disclosed to parliament.