First Minister Humza Yousaf orders assessment over £14.2m Scottish civil service financial institution card spend
Humza Yousaf has ordered a assessment of Scottish authorities financial institution card spending by civil servants.
The first minister introduced the transfer after it was revealed £14.2m of taxpayers’ cash was spent by Scottish civil servants in three years.
The spree included nearly £10,000 on VIP airport upgrades and greater than £32,000 on team-building workouts.
Other purchases by senior workers included yoga lessons, nail polish, and £4,182 for hospitality and lodge lodging on the five-star Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire.
Wellington boots “for inspections”, China crockery for a gathering room, and a workers member’s driving idea check have been additionally paid for through the credit score card-style playing cards.
The Scottish authorities stated it can not touch upon the primary minister’s journey preparations on account of safety causes however confirmed Mr Yousaf has requested everlasting secretary John-Paul Marks to assessment the spending procedures for the playing cards.
A spokesperson stated: “The Scottish authorities is dedicated to delivering the most effective worth for cash for taxpayers and proactively publishes details about spending to enhance openness and transparency.
“Spending through electronic purchasing cards is used to support government officials during their usual course of work such as on training, catering, room hire and one-off supplies.
“The playing cards usually are not for private expenditure and there are strong authorisation and common auditing preparations are in place to observe their use.”
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The Scottish authorities points its senior workers with digital buying playing cards for purchasing items and companies as much as a price of £5,000 per transaction.
A abstract of purchases greater than £500 is formally revealed, however Scottish Labour obtained a full breakdown of the 58,751 transactions made between September 2019 and August final yr.
It revealed that £9,898 was spent on airport upgrades for former first minister Nicola Sturgeon and her workers, together with fast-track companies by means of check-in and safety and entry to VIP lounges.
Team-building workouts price a complete of £32,995 in the course of the three-year timeframe and included a £375 invoice from Brewhemia pub in Edinburgh, journeys to bowling alleys, escape rooms and loopy golf venues, and £1,693 on an “away day discussion” on the Seamill Hydro Hotel in Ayrshire.
Part of Edinburgh Zoo was additionally employed out by workers, costing taxpayers £2,000, whereas additional actions included purchases of ping pong balls, chocolate mice, play dough and paper planes.
The majority of the gadgets included on a regular basis purchases for civil servants working from residence in the course of the COVID lockdown, together with pc displays.
Around 3,000 entries had no description towards them, whereas greater than £25,000 of fraudulent transactions occurred on the playing cards and have been flagged up for refunds.
The Scottish authorities defined that almost all of the fraudulent transactions have been attributed to at least one cardholder, who “proactively identified the spending” and claimed the purchases had taken place with out their data. The card was cancelled and the related transactions repaid by means of financial institution safety processes.
Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland on Wednesday, Wellbeing Economy Secretary Neil Gray stated the information made for “uncomfortable reading” and stated Mr Yousaf was proper to order a assessment.