The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
NHS Tayside funds issue raised in 2014 reports
Holyrood focus on use of charity funds
The Scottish Government was told about the funnelling of charity funds for general spending by NHS Tayside in two major reports in 2014.
But, at a Holyrood committee, Health Secretary Shona Robison and her predecessor Alex Neil said the transaction had not been flagged up as a concern by accountants.
The health board was exposed in April for dipping into its endowment fund and transferring £3.6 million to cover core expenditure.
Ms Robison was told it was “disingenuous” to claim the Scottish Government was kept in the dark about the dodgy practice, when it was included in an annual report into NHS Tayside in June 2014.
The PwC report, which was sent to the Scottish Government, said trustees of the endowment fund, who also sit on the health board, approved submissions resulting in the transfer £3.6m which went towards a health board IT system.
The Courier can reveal the board’s 2013-14 accounts also refer to endowment fund trustees “approving a number of submissions for funding totalling £3.64m” in a passage about Tayside facing a black hole in its budget.
“The content of all the bids were agreed by trustees to be within the normal criteria for funding and in line with the charitable purpose of the fund,” the accounts said.
Referring to the PwC report at Holyrood’s public audit committee, Tory MSP Liam Kerr said: “It was there to be seen by the Scottish Government, by the Scottish NHS.”
Christine McLaughlin, the Scottish Government’s director of health finance, said the transaction was detailed in the PwC report but it “does not suggest it was an inappropriate transaction”.
Ms Robison said: “Auditors would normally escalate matters of concern to the Scottish Government. That is what part of their role is and that did not happen on this occasion.
“If it had happened Alex Neil at the time or me later would have taken action. In fact it wasn’t escalated to the Scottish Government and never came to the attention of ministers.”
Committee convener Jenny Marra said: “I think it’s disingenuous for the Scottish Government to say that they didn’t know, when this report with this information landed on your desk.”
Mr Neil, an SNP MSP on the committee, was health secretary when the report was sent to the Scottish Government in June 2014, before leaving the post in November of that year.
“There’s a big difference between the documents being submitted to the Scottish Government and to the cabinet secretary’s office,” he said.
He said that if every document from health boards was put in the health secretary or chief executive’s in-tray their jobs would be impossible.
A Grant Thornton report published this week into financial management at NHS Tayside said the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorate received the final copy of Tayside’s financial statements in June 2014.
It said: “We have been unable to identify any evidence that demonstrates the use of endowments was raised and discussed with SGHSCD.”