Michael Matheson has agreed to pay the £11,000 iPad data bill he racked up on holiday from his own pocket, after it emerged he was warned almost a year earlier to update the device.
The Health Secretary incurred the fees while on a week-long break with his family in Morocco over Christmas, while the Scottish Parliament was on its winter recess.
He said he had later discovered that the Parliament-issued iPad had an “outdated SIM card” that he was not aware should have been replaced for a better roaming deal.
However, it was revealed on Friday that Mr Matheson was told in an email to swap out the SIM card in February 2022, as his iPad had not been switched to a new provider.
His failure to do so meant that the bill for his data roaming charges came to £10,935.74, of which £3,000 was paid from his MSP expenses account and the rest by Holyrood.
Amid calls for him to foot the bill himself, Mr Matheson released a statement on Friday evening saying he would do so, reimbursing taxpayers in the process.
“I have reflected long and hard and accept that the SIM card on this device should have been replaced at an earlier stage,” he said.
“Much of the speculation in the past couple of days has questioned my integrity, and I take this extremely seriously.
“I take equally seriously the reputation of the Scottish Parliament, of which I have always striven to be a diligent member since its restoration in 1999.
“It is my decision to reimburse these costs in full, which I believe in all the circumstances to be the right one.”
“As well as being a constituency MSP, I have an important role as Health Secretary and the coming months will be challenging for our health service.
“I am determined to be fully focused on taking forward these responsibilities, and I assure the people of Falkirk West and across Scotland that their concerns are my priorities.”
Scottish Labour’s deputy leader Jackie Baillie, who had earlier called for Mr Matheson to pay the bill himself, said he had made the right decision but that “it shouldn’t have been such a saga”.
“This is an arrogant and failing government that is out of touch with Scots. It’s time for change,” she added.
Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser, meanwhile, said it was “a pity it took so long to get there, and he tried to claim this money from the taxpayer in the first place”.
On Thursday evening, Holyrood officials said the incident had prompted a review of mobile data usage that could result in MSPs being forced to pay for excessive fees out of their own pockets in future.
However, a spokesman said there would be no further investigation into the Health Secretary’s case, as officials had “accepted Mr Matheson’s assurances that all costs incurred were for parliamentary purposes”.
