The Presiding Officer has today been urged to launch an investigation into why the public is paying Michael Matheson’s £11,000 holiday roaming charges bill when the claim “fails to meet” the Scottish Parliament’s expenses pay-out criteria.
Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy has written to Alison Johnstone seeking clarification on the decision-making process, as well as requesting a personal statement from the health secretary in parliament, given “his abject failure” to answer questions on the scandal yesterday.
Mr Hoy is demanding Mr Matheson repay the full sum from his own pocket and highlights the following reasons why the Scottish Parliament should not have paid the bill on his behalf:
- An email from the parliament to MSPs stating that it will only meet roaming charge costs up to £200
- Scottish Parliament reimbursement guidelines stating that all claims from members must “represent value for money”
- Emails sent to MSPs before every recess requesting them to contact the parliament’s IT department ahead of an overseas trip so that a roaming charges package can be organised to limit costs
Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy MSP said: “I have written to the Presiding Officer requesting she launch a full investigation into why and how the Scottish Parliament agreed to pay Michael Matheson’s eye-watering bill.
“It seems clear that it fails to meet the parliament’s own criteria for what constitutes a legitimate expense claim, and that the health secretary must pay the exorbitant fees he racked up out of his own pocket.
“The parliament set a £200 ceiling on the roaming charges it will reimburse MSPs for, while the expenses guidelines are clear that any claim must represent value for money – which this palpably does not.
“In addition, Mr Matheson appears to have ignored repeated emails from the parliament to MSPs requesting they inform the IT department if they’re travelling overseas so that an affordable package can be arranged.
“Had Mr Matheson followed correct protocols, this huge expense would have been avoided.
“His laziness and cavalier attitude to public money means that he – and he alone – is responsible for this bill.
“The health secretary has some nerve expecting taxpayers to cough up for his mistake – as does Humza Yousaf who backed him yesterday.
“Given Michael Matheson’s abject failure to answer journalists’ questions on this scandal on Thursday, he must make a personal statement to parliament explaining his actions.”
Notes
Craig Hoy’s letter to the Presiding Officer is attached.
Scottish Parliament email detailing the £200 limit on reimbursement of roaming costs is attached.
The Members’ Expenses Scheme 2023 can be seen here (see page 5): https://www.parliament.scot/-/media/files/msps/allowances/members-expense-scheme-2023.pdf
Extract of typical email from Parliament IT to MSPs ahead of each recess:
Planning to travel abroad this summer?
If you are travelling outside European roaming zones and planning to use your phone while not connected to Wi-Fi, you must let the
Failure to do so will result in expensive out of tariff charges. If you are on a cruise or do not have a bundle applied, please switch off your phone or put it on airplane mode and connect to Wi-Fi.
If you are staying within EU zones you simply need to adhere to the warning messages that you get as you approach your data limit.
IT Helpdesk