SNP Government orders 'away day' crackdown after credit card spending expose

Nicola Sturgeon departs Edinburgh airport in 2015 following the SNP’s a historic landslide general election victory.

Scotland’s top civil servant has ordered a crackdown on SNP Government “away days” after a Daily Record expose of credit card spending.

Officials will have to use public sector venues for the bonding sessions and the number of mandarins allowed to use the cards has also fallen.

It comes after Labour accessed nearly 60,000 individual spending entries on internal credit cards by officials.

Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon and her staff spent around £10,000 of public money on VIP upgrades in airports across the world.

Officials also used the budget for yoga classes, nail polish and driving tests during a time of public spending pressure.

Away days included £1,980 at the Radisson Hotel, £502 at Gorgie City Farm and £375 at Brewhemia.

Another £204 was spent for a laser tag away day in woodlands near Edinburgh and public cash was used to go to escape rooms in Glasgow.

The spending covered September 2019 to August 2022 – when Sturgeon was in charge.

Humza Yousaf, who succeeded Nicola Sturgeon, ordered an immediate audit, which has now been published.

A Scottish Government press release stated: “The Permanent Secretary has also indicated that corporate guidance should be reviewed and updated to reflect the principle that all staff ‘away days’ should be carried out within public sector venues, with any exceptions requiring senior (director-level or above) approval of an appropriate business case.

“An on-going review of the number of card holders has already resulted in a reduction of just under 10% since the summer, while mandatory training and follow-up refresher training will also be given to everyone with ePC responsibilities.”

The audit team found that all but one of the 194 transactions were judged to be appropriate expenditure under the current ePC policy.

Public Finance Minister Tom Arthur said: “It is reassuring that the review concludes that the transactions audited were all appropriate under the current ePC policy, with the only exception being a fraudulent transaction carried out by a third party. I welcome the recommendations which aim to strengthen processes, including reviewing what may or may not be purchased through ePC, as well as improved monitoring and mandatory training.

“The use of ePC is standard practice across governments and it is vital that policies and guidance on usage remain as robust and transparent as possible. This will ensure civil servants can continue to carry out their daily duties effectively while maintaining the best use of public funds.

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