A £2,000 away day at Edinburgh Zoo and trips to crazy golf, escape rooms and a spa hotel are latest revelations of spending by SNP government billed to taxpayer under Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister Humza Yousaf orders credit card review
- Civil servants and other officials put fun and games on their official plastic
- Team-building exercises cost £32,995 during the three-year timeframe
Scottish Government staff spent thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money on trips to the zoo, lavish hotel stays and games of crazy golf, documents revealed today.
The latest dossier of revelations from leaked credit card spending data showed civil servants and other officials put events, fun and games on their official plastic during Nicola Sturgeon’s time in power.
It comes after details of spending on hotels including Gleneagles and Ms Sturgeon’s VIP travel comfort were released yesterday.
The team-building exercises cost a total of £32,995 during the three-year timeframe.
It included a £375 bill to Brewhemia pub in Edinburgh in September and trips to bowling alleys.
The transaction logs also include trips to escape rooms and crazy golf venues for staff, while £1,693 was spent on an ‘away day discussion’ at the Seamill Hydro hotel in Ayrshire in 2022.
Part of Edinburgh Zoo was also hired out by staff, costing taxpayers £2,000, while further activities in 2019 include purchases of ping pong balls, chocolate mice, play dough and paper planes.
Humza Yousaf, Ms Sturgeon’s successor, last night ordered a review of credit card spending after the data was released by Scottish Labour.
And SNP Wellbeing Economy Secretary Neil Gray this morning admitted the spending made ‘uncomfortable reading’.
Data published on Tuesday by Scottish Labour revealed senior government officials had made almost 60,000 transactions over a three-year period, amounting to £14.2 million in total.
The latest raft of revelations from leaked credit card spending data showed civil servants and other officials put events, fun and games on their official plastic during Nicola Sturgeon’s time in power
Part of Edinburgh Zoo was also hired out by staff, costing taxpayers £2,000, while further activities in 2019 include purchases of ping pong balls, chocolate mice, play dough and paper planes. (Luca, one of Edinburgh zoos critically endangered Sumatran tigers is pictured last year)
Humza Yousaf, Ms Sturgeon’s successor, last night ordered a review of credit card spending after the data was released by Scottish Labour.
Senior staff are issued with credit-style cards to purchase goods and services with a value of £5,000 per transaction.
The timeframe assessed in the transactions covers the period between September 2019 and August 2022, with further details now revealing bowling and pottery lessons were among the ‘away days’ for civil servants.
Mr Yousaf yesterday said he would instruct permanent secretary John Paul Marks – the most senior civil servant – to conduct a review into the spending.
Addressing the spending on Good Morning Scotland on Wednesday, Mr Gray said: ‘Obviously the reports, some of them, make for uncomfortable reading and the First Minister has instituted the review from the most senior civil servant in Scotland – the permanent secretary – to ensure that the use of credit cards by senior civil servants is appropriate and continues to have the stringent checks and balances in place to ensure that there is good value brought for public money.
‘The use of credit cards by senior civil servants obviously is used by many other governments and with releases of other information by the governments at other times, including the Welsh Government, more recently.
‘Obviously there becomes greater public scrutiny and questions as to sometimes its appropriateness.
‘So I think it is right that the First Minister has asked the Permanent Secretary to ensure that the processes that are in place are robust and to ensure public spending continues to be fair and balanced going forward.’
Speaking to comedian Matt Forde during an Edinburgh Fringe show, he said: ‘It’s fair to ask the questions that people are asking about. Was this item spent? Why was it spent? Why was it bought by the civil service?
‘I will ask the permanent secretary to just review, ‘do we have the right procedures in place when it comes to spend’.’
He added: ‘I noticed one of the headlines around security through airports and so on, which again is fair for people to ask a question.
‘We absolutely have to be mindful of every penny and every pound that we spend, but we’ve also got to be mindful of people’s security.’
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: ‘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 cards are not for personal expenditure and there are robust authorisation and regular auditing arrangements in place to monitor their use.’
Data published yesterday revealed almost £10 million was spent on VIP airport services for former first minister Nicola Sturgeon and her staff between September 2019 and June 2022.
Meanwhile, other spending included yoga classes, nail polish, a £27 ‘homedisco’ from eBay and £4,182 for hospitality and hotel accommodation at a five-star Perthshire hotel.
A variety of books was also purchased, including six copies of a book of speeches by Ms Sturgeon and 21 copies of How To Run A Government So That Citizens Benefit And Taxpayers Don’t Go Crazy.
The vast majority of items, however, included everyday purchases for civil servants working from home during the Covid-19 lockdown, including computer monitors.
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