Michael Matheson spent more than £7,000 on data roaming charges in the space of a single day while on holiday in Morocco, according to a breakdown of his bill.
The document, released by the Scottish Parliament following a Freedom of Information request, showed the Health Secretary used 3.18GB of data on 2 January this year.
Despite growing pressure on Mr Matheson to account for how he used so much data, on Wednesday Holyrood authorities ruled out a fresh investigation into the affair.
The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) said it was “satisfied” that checks carried out on Mr Matheson’s iPad had struck the right balance between “confidentiality and due diligence”.
Last week, the Health Secretary said the £10,935.74 bill he incurred on the Parliament-issued device related “solely to parliamentary and constituency-related work”.
This was despite the charge being racked up while he was on holiday in Morocco over Christmas with his family, when Holyrood was in recess.
Mr Matheson has already promised that he will pay back the charges in full, saying an “outdated” SIM card in the device had contributed to the high costs.
His bill showed that the nearly £11,000 sum built up over six days between 28 December, 2022 and 3 January, 2023.
He used 1.26GB of data on 28 December, costing £2,249, before being charged a further £7,345 on 2 January after using 3.18GB. On the other days listed, he used far less.
Scottish Conservative MSP Russell Findlay pointed out that Mr Matheson, who is a Celtic supporter, had used most of his data on the two days when the team had fixtures. Celtic played Hibernian on 28 December and rivals Rangers on 2 January.
Tory chairman Craig Hoy said the bill was “utterly jaw-dropping”.
He added: “Speculation will now go into overdrive as to how Michael Matheson racked up this £11,000 roaming bill and whether he was viewing non-political material, particularly on 2 January – a public holiday – when the usage sky-rocketed.
“The only way he will allay the suspicion and rumours is by handing over his iPad so that the browser history can be examined and his claim that the charges were accrued only on parliamentary work can be verified.”
The Tories have threatened to force a vote of no confidence in the Health Secretary if he fails to do so, which could be tabled as early as Thursday.
Humza Yousaf defended Mr Matheson on Wednesday, insisting that “the matter is now closed” after his minister agreed to cover the cost of the data bill from his own pocket.
Holyrood’s Presiding Officer, Alison Johnstone, said the SPCB had ordered officials to carry out an “urgent review” of its policies on mobile device use and data roaming charges.
“This is an issue which I and the SPCB take very seriously,” she added. “We must be in a position where we have reviewed and tightened all policies to ensure the present situation cannot happen again.
“The policy review will also set out the circumstances, and cost thresholds, for ‘out of the ordinary’ bills to be escalated to the SPCB for explicit sign off.
“This will ensure full transparency and full accountability. It is vital that we have every confidence in the expenses scheme and that its integrity is maintained.”
