Health Secretary's own goal as teen sons racked up £11k ipad bill watching football

16 November 2023, 17:35

The Scottish government minister at the centre of a row over an £11k roaming charges bill run up on his parliamentary ipad while on holiday, has admitted his kids had used the data to watch football matches - but denied he had been aware of it or watched the games himself.

Health Secretary Michael Matheson made an emotional speech to MSPs in Holyrood, apologising for the charges and claiming it was a result of his teenage sons "hot-spotting" to use data.

He said he had only discovered they had done this last week after the eye-watering ipad bill was first made public.

The charges themselves had been run up back in December and January when his family were in Morocco for a week's holiday.

The bill, which was published by the Scottish Parliament earlier this week, showed that more than £7000 was spent on data on January 2 - the same day as the Old Firm match between Celtic and Rangers.

Speculation that he had been streaming football reached fever-pitch, but today Mr Matheson said that it had only been his sons who had watched. He maintains he only used his ipad that week for conducting business for his Falkirk constituents.

Asked by LBC if he had been watching football, he stated: "No, I didn't watch the football. I didn't know the football was being watched." He also said he had no intention of resigning.

Amid increasing demands to explain the data charges - which amounted to a total of £10,935.74 - Mr Matheson told MSPs that members of his family had "made use of the iPad's data".

Information published by the Scottish Scottish Parliament revealed that in one session on January 2, a total of 3.18GB of data was used, costing £7,345.689.

Speaking about the data usage, Mr Matheson said: "The simple truth is they watched football matches."

He said he had not mentioned his family's use of the device before now because he was a "father first and foremost" and had wanted to "protect" his children from "the political and media scrutiny".

He added: "That was a mistake and I am sorry. But I can see now that it just isn't possible to explain the data usage without explaining their role."

The statement came after Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross had urged First Minister Humza Yousaf to "do the right thing" and sack his Health Secretary over the matter.

Raising the issue earlier at First Minister's Questions, Mr Ross had said: "The evidence shows that Michael Matheson claimed £11,000 of taxpayers' money when he knew it wasn't for parliamentary work. It wasn't just a mistake, it was dishonest."

The bill was initially paid in full by the Scottish Parliament which had accepted Mr Matheson's assurances the ipad had only been used for constituency work. He then offered to pay £3000 towards if from his office costs - an amount which appeared on his published expenses and triggered all the revelations.

He has now referred himself to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body so it can investigate the matter - but Scottish Tories have indicated they could still bring a vote of no confidence in him.

Humza Yousaf however, has insisted that he has "absolute confidence in Michael Matheson as the Cabinet Secretary for Health".

In his statement to Holyrood Mr Matheson told MSPs the disclosing the information about his family had been "extremely difficult" for him.

"Mistakes have been made. By me. By my family," he said.

He told MSPs it was only when he returned home last Thursday, after the row about the data bill had erupted, that he was "made aware by my wife that other members of our family had made use of the iPad's data" while on the holiday.

"This was the first I knew that the data had been used by anyone else. I had previously checked this but the truth only emerged after this story was in the news."

Mr Matheson added that he "should have pressed harder" about family use of the device, but he made clear to MSPs: "The responsibility for the iPad is mine. The responsibility for the data usage is mine."

He and his wife immediately decided to reimburse the Scottish Parliament "for the full cost" at that point.

In his statement, he made clear to MSPs that he "did not knowingly run up the roaming charges bill" but accepted it had come about as a result of him "not updating the SIM card" in the device to Holyrood's new contract provider.

He also recognised that he should have informed the Parliament in advance of the trip, and that he would be taking the iPad with him."My mistake, and I wholly accept this, was not to have sorted all of this out long before I went to Morocco."

He added there had been "mistakes" made in the way he handled the matter, saying: "I should have sorted the SIM card. And I should have investigated what happened more thoroughly. I accept that, take full responsibility and apologise unreservedly."

He added he had not provided the full details earlier "because it would implicate my children in this issue".

Labour's Dame Jackie Baillie said parents of teenage children would understand the situation, but not the fact that there has been a "cover up" and the fact the ipad was not kept secure was "negligent", she said.

Meanwhile, Scottish Conservative deputy leader Meghan Gallacher said if the password for the ipad had been shared this could have been a breach of GDPR.

Mr Matheson said he had been in touch with the Parliament's IT department on the first day of his holiday as his mobile phone - also supplied by the Parliament - was not working. He said he had been advised he could use the ipad for hot-spotting purposes.

"My son - I had not used a hotspot before - helped to facilitate that provision. That is how they have been able to access the data provided within the ipad during the course of our holiday period."

However the Scottish Parliament later revealed that its IT helpdesk records of the conversation with Mr Matheson from the time did not show any discussion about the ipad, it had focused wholly on trying to get his phone to operate properly.

Asked afterwards by journalists if he had offered his resignation at any point, Mr Matheson said: "No I haven't. I don't intend to. I intend to continue my work as MSP for Falkirk West and also to continue with the considerable responsibilities as Health Secretary."