Government knew of WICS lavish spends

A senior executive at Scotland’s scandal-hit water industry regulator has claimed a Scottish Government official knew the firm was funding a near-£80,000 Harvard course for her.

The spending was discovered along with other lavish payments–including a £400 high-end restaurant dinner and £100 gift cards for staff as Christmas presents - by Audit Scotland.

After the watchdog’ s report was released in December, then Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS) chief executive officer Alan Sutherland was forced to stand down.

In a letter released yesterday but sent last month to the Public Audit Committee, the firm’s chief operating officer Michelle Ashford said the Scottish Government had been made aware of the Harvard course she had been sent on, which cost £77,350, including flights and accommodation.

Emails she sent to interim chief executive officer David Sattie, board members Robin Mcgill and David Macrae and an official at Audit Scotland laid out the circumstances of the course, including a “360-degree review” where she claims to have spoken to the Government’s deputy director of water policy Jon Rathjen before the course started.

“The sponsor team at Scottish government were aware th a ti was participating in the Hbs programme ,” she wrote. “I have been involved in the policy development work with SG since the middle of 2022.

“I lead the wastewater workstream, so advising them that I would be out of the country in February and April 2023 was essential.”

During an appearance before the Public Audit Committee earlier this year, Scottish Government director general for net zero Roy Brannen said the first he had known about it was when the Audit Scotland report was compiled and he was asked to retrospectively approve the spending.