The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Shamed MSP claimed £4k in expenses
Former finance secretary Derek Ma c k a y claimed more than £4,400 in expenses in the aftermath of his resignation from the Cabinet, official figures show.
The MSP quit on Fe b r u a r y 6 after The Scottish Sun revealed he had sent 270 messages to a 16-year-old boy on social media.
In total, £4,406.50 of t a x p ay e r s ’ m o n e y wa s used to reimburse the shamed minister during
February and March this year.
Of that, £2,122.90 was spent on accommodation in Edinburgh, £1,792.50 on his parliamentary office – £ 600 of which was on computer systems – and £491.10 on hiring halls, p ay i n g for newspaper subscriptions and advertising.
Mr Mackay’s resignation came on the morning of the Scottish draf t budge t, leaving his deputy and then-public finance minister Kate Forbes to deliver the speech with just seven hours notice.
Ms Forbes was named finance secretary tw o weeks after the budget.
The Renfrewshire South and West MSP, who now sits as an independent, claimed for £1,990 of rent payments in February and March and a £132.90 utility bill from Scottish Power for electricity from March 11 and April 9.
Rent for a parliamentary office worth £1,125, £67.50 for “rental charges”, £600 worth of “maintenance” for
a casework management system and £46.80 in newspaper subscriptions.
Mr Mackay claimed back £41.90 for the hiring of rooms or halls, including one the day before the scandal broke.
A further £372 wa s spent on newspaper advertisements along with £ 30.40 for waste collection to Renfrewhshire Council.
It comes after Mr Mackay was found to have claimed
£ 3 2 7. 1 0 in rent in Edinburgh between July 5 and July 14.
Released via a Freedom of Information request, he was found to have claimed more than £1,800 in July and August.
Over the past financial year, Mr Mackay claimed £32,047.74 for his duties.
During the last financial year, £16,987,056 was paid to MSPs in expenses and allowances, including for stationery costs, staffing
and general expenses.
A spokesman for Derek Mackay said: “The expenditure complies with Scottish Pa r l i a m e n t allowance rules and Mr Mackay ’s Renfrewshire North and West constituency o ff i c e is continuing to operate in line with the Scottish Government’s coronavirus guidance in dealing with casework and making representations on behalf of constituents.”