Humza Yousaf has ordered a overview of Scottish authorities financial institution card spending by civil servants.
The first minister introduced the transfer after it was revealed £14.2m of taxpayers’ money 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 employees included yoga lessons, nail polish, and £4,182 for hospitality and resort lodging on the five-star Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire.
Wellington boots “for inspections”, China crockery for a gathering room, and a employees member’s driving idea check have been additionally paid for by way of the credit score card-style playing cards.
The Scottish authorities mentioned it can’t 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 overview the spending procedures for the playing cards.
A spokesperson mentioned: “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 should not for private expenditure and there are strong authorisation and common auditing preparations are in place to watch their use.”
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The Scottish authorities points its senior employees with digital buying playing cards for getting items and companies as much as a worth of £5,000 per transaction.
A abstract of purchases greater than £500 is formally printed, 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 employees, together with fast-track companies by way of check-in and safety and entry to VIP lounges.
Team-building workouts value a complete of £32,995 through 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 employees, 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 through the COVID lockdown, together with laptop screens.
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 information. The card was cancelled and the related transactions repaid by way of financial institution safety processes.
Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland on Wednesday, Wellbeing Economy Secretary Neil Gray mentioned the information made for “uncomfortable reading” and mentioned Mr Yousaf was proper to order a overview.
Content Source: information.sky.com