Matheson urged to ‘do the right thing’ and pay up for iPad data roaming charges

Health Secretary Michael Matheson has been urged to “do the right thing” and pay a bill of almost £11,000 he racked up for data roaming charges while using a parliamentary iPad on holiday.

Labour challenged Mr Matheson to “pay up himself” after it emerged the Scottish Parliament is to carry out a policy review that will consider if MSPs should be held “personally liable for costs where they have not acted in full accordance with IT office requirements”.

It comes after the now Health Secretary incurred a fee of £10,935.74 during his week-long visit to Morocco around Christmas last year.

He has already told journalists that the bill was brought about by using “an outdated Sim card in an iPad that I had for constituency purposes”.

Mr Matheson insisted he was not aware that this had to be replaced, saying that “the cost built up as a result of that”.

He has said he will contribute £3,000 towards the bill from his expenses budget, with the rest paid by the Scottish Parliament.

Scottish Conservative Party chairman Craig Hoy however insisted that the “Health Secretary has some nerve expecting taxpayers to cough up for his mistake”.

Labour also called on him to pay for the “huge data bill” from his own pocket, rather than relying on the public purse.

Scottish deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “The Scottish public are understandably looking on with bafflement at the scale of the Mr Matheson’s bill and his nonchalant attitude to such a serious situation.

“At a time of cost-of-living crisis, Mr Matheson’s flippant approach to this situation is deeply offensive to thousands of Scots.”

She added: “Mr Matheson was told repeatedly by the Parliament to replace his Sim. The responsibility for this lies with him.

“The time has come for Michael Matheson to do the right thing and pay up himself.

“Failure to do so will only further weaken public trust in this scandal-hit SNP government.”

Mr Hoy meanwhile has written to Holyrood’s Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone, requesting she instigate a “full investigation into why and how the Scottish Parliament agreed to pay Michael Matheson’s eye-watering bill”

The Tory MSP said the Parliament had “set a £200 ceiling on the roaming charges it will reimburse MSPs for” adding that expenses guidelines also make clear claims must “represent value for money”, saying that Mr Matheson’s roaming data bill “palpably does not”.

With the Tories demanding the Health Secretary make a statement to Holyrood on the matter, Mr Hoy continued: “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.”

On Thursday, Holyrood confirmed that Mr Matheson’s data charges were investigated by a “senior member of the Parliament’s IT office in January this year”.

A Scottish Parliament spokesperson said  this confirmed that “Mr Matheson had not updated his iPad’s Sim card to the new provider as required, or notified the IT office before travelling, so that the appropriate roaming package could be applied”.

The spokesperson added: “At the conclusion of the investigation senior officials accepted Mr Matheson’s assurances that all costs incurred were for parliamentary purposes.”

However, Parliament senior management agreed in September that there should be a policy review of mobile data usage, with the spokesperson stating: “The policy review will include consideration of the potential for Members to be personally liable for costs where they have not acted in full accordance with IT office requirements.”

The review is due to be completed before the end of March 2024.

In addition to this, the spokesperson said the Parliament will shortly award a new mobile contract that will “enhance technical controls to ensure there is no repeat of these substantial data charges”.