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Nicola Sturgeon’s government billed the Scottish taxpayer for yoga classes, wellington boots and stays at top hotels paid for by official credit cards, data reveals today.
Leaked documents show that in just three years Ms Sturgeon’s administration put £14million on the public ‘card’.
Purchases by senior staff included yoga classes, nail polish and £4,182 for hospitality and hotel accommodation at the five-star Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire in September 2019 for a women in sports event.
The 58,751 purchases on procurement cards, obtained by Scottish Labour, also covered a staff member’s driving theory test, china crockery for a meeting room, a £27 ‘homedisco’ from eBay and £272 on ‘wellington boots for inspections’.
A variety of books were 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.
Scottish taxpayers forked out almost £10,000 on VIP treatment for Nicola Sturgeon when she flew on official business when she was first minister.
The former leader used ‘meet and greet services’ from a company that boasted that it treated its customers ‘like royalty’ repeatedly between 2019 and 2022.
Her staff also spent £24.99 on heel stoppers – rubber grips that help people wearing high heels avoid slipping over – before a Remainer trip to Berlin in 2019, saying they were ‘required due to historic flooring’.
It shows that Ms Sturgeon’s team paid Ace Handling for services during visits including to England, Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands, as well as when leaving and returning through Edinburgh Airport
Purchases by senior staff included yoga classes, nail polish and £4,182 for hospitality and hotel accommodation at the five-star Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire in September 2019 for a women in sports event
Ace’s website says it relieves the ‘stress’ of going through airport procedures, ‘whether you’re a VIP or just want to feel like one’
Her staff also spent £24.99 on heel stoppers – rubber grips that help people wearing high heels avoid slipping over – before a Remainer trip to Berlin in September 2019, saying they were ‘required due to historic flooring’.
Senior government staff are issued with credit-style cards to purchase goods and services with a value of £5,000 per transaction.
The full breakdown of spending covers all purchases between September 2019 and August 2022 and included 58,751 individual spending entries.
The total spent on the cards amounted to £14.2 million in the three-year period, across the whole government.
It shows that Ms Sturgeon’s team paid Ace Handling for services during visits including to England, Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands, as well as when leaving and returning through Edinburgh Airport.
Ace’s website says it relieves the ‘stress’ of going through airport procedures, ‘whether you’re a VIP or just want to feel like one’.
For departures it meets clients from their car and then whisks them through check-in and security ‘to the VIP lounge, and then to the awaiting flight’. When arriving, clients are met from their flight and escorted through immigration, luggage reclaim ‘and taken to your waiting car’.
The SNP have been among some of the loudest critics of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s use of VIP air travel. In January MP Tommy Sheppard tweeted that his use of a jet made ‘a mockery of his climate pledges’.
Scottish Labour finance spokesman Michael Marra told the Daily Record: ‘These are the spending habits of an arrogant and entitled government with no regard for taxpayers.
‘The SNP government is frittering away public money on frivolous purchases and VIP treatment while services are stretched to breaking point.’
The most expensive use of the meet-and-green services was £1,605 spent at Dublin Airport on October 13, 2021.
A variety of books were 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.
Ms Sturgeon was in Ireland in transit to Reykjavik to speak about climate change as a keynote speaker to the Arctic Circle Assembly.
It came two weeks before Glasgow hosted the Cop26 climate conference and she told delegates Scotland planned to ‘lead by example’.
The government credit card was also used to spend £1,271.21 at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in February 2020 as she was en route to Brussels, having spent £946.67 there the previous September on a trip to Germany.
A Holyrood spokesman said: ‘The Scottish government is committed to delivering the best value for money for taxpayers and proactively publishes information about spending to improve 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 cards are not for personal expenditure and there are robust authorisation and regular auditing arrangements are in place to monitor their use.
‘For security reasons we cannot comment on the first minister’s travel arrangements.’
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