Craig Hoy MSP

Member of the Scottish Parliament for South Scotland

Presiding Officer
Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh
EH99 1SP 10th November 2023

Dear Presiding Officer,

Further to my Point of Order today I write in respect of the £10,935.74 spent on roaming charges by Michael
Matheson MSP and paid for by the Scottish Parliament.

On 8 November 2023 it was reported that a Member of the Scottish Parliament, Michael Matheson, incurred
a bill of £10,935.74 on roaming charges whilst on holiday in Morocco. The Scottish Parliament website
confirms Mr Matheson used £3,000 worth of taxpayer-funded expenses to contribute towards these costs,
whilst the Scottish Parliament picked up the remaining costs, which of course is also public money.

All expenses claimed by MSPs must not be submitted ‘unless the member is satisfied that the expenses
represent value for money’. The eye-watering bill accrued by Mr Matheson does not in any way represent
value for money and so this would appear to be a clear breach of the expenses scheme. It is important that
this matter is urgently investigated by the parliament to definitively rule whether this claim is considered
value for money and what the sanction will be if it is deemed to breach that rule.

Previously, an email was sent to MSPs confirming that only roaming costs of up to £200 would be covered
by the Scottish Parliament. The email makes clear that ‘the individual will be responsible for anything
beyond this.’ I have enclosed a copy of that email for your information.

Given that the parliament ended up paying the cost, rather than the MSP, it would appear this parliamentary
policy has been broken. Therefore, I would urge you to investigate whether parliament’s policies were
broken when they agreed to pay Mr Matheson’s roaming charges because this appears to be a clear breach.
Further, the process should be clarified to the public, who deserve to know whether they are expected to fork
out for unlimited sums of money when a politician runs up large bills on roaming charges.

Mr Matheson’s expenses were classified under ‘office cost provision’ when they were published on the
parliament’s website. The MSP expenses scheme states in paragraph 4.1.3 that a member can only claim
under this section ‘in respect of a single local parliamentary office’. This expenses claim, which relates to
expenses incurred in roaming charges while Mr Matheson was overseas, is clearly not in respect of his local
parliamentary office, so it would also appear that he has committed a further breach of MSP expenses rules
as well. This use of parliamentary expenses by Mr Matheson should also be investigated.

Rule 13.1 of the Scottish Parliament’s Standing Orders also allow individual members of the parliament
to make a personal statement. This scandal is such a serious breach of the trust in how parliamentary
expenses are used that I believe Mr Matheson should make a personal statement on this matter to confirm

The Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh EH99 1SP

craig.hoy.msp@parliament.scot

phone 0131 348 6976 x-twitter @CraigWHoy1

 Craig Hoy MSP
Member of the Scottish Parliament for South Scotland
the circumstances surrounding this incident and that he will pay back the excessive roaming charges he
racked up. I have copied him into this letter to convey that message. I note that the acceptance of a request
for a personal statement is at your discretion as presiding officer, so I would urge you to accept any personal
statement request from Mr Matheson.

In short, on behalf of constituents who are concerned about these potential breaches, I am calling for:

• The release of a breakdown of the roaming charges which in total amounted to nearly £11,000.
• An investigation into whether parliament broke its own procedures by covering the full cost of these
roaming charges rather than the first £200 as set out in the 2018 advice on parliamentary policy.
• An investigation into whether Michael Matheson himself broke parliament’s expenses rules when
claiming for these costs.
• For you to accept any request for a personal statement from Michael Matheson clarifying how he
racked up such a large bill and whether he will pay it back.

I look forward to receiving a response so that we can cooperate together and restore any damage inflicted
to the reputation of this parliament as a result of this incident.

Yours sincerely,

Craig Hoy MSP

The Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh EH99 1SP

craig.hoy.msp@parliament.scot

phone 0131 348 6976 x-twitter @CraigWHoy1