Scottish Labour has demanded answers from the Scottish Government
over its ‘eye-watering wastage’ of public funds as the party can
reveal that the government spent over £1.2m on vehicle costs in a
space of just over a year.
Figures have revealed that between November 2019 and January
2020, the Scottish Government spent a grand total of £1,211,084
on unspecified vehicle costs.
Nearly £100,000 of these costs (£96,480) were paid to Elon Musk’s
Tesla company, a company specialising in high-end electric cars
and dogged by allegations of workers’ rights violations.
With the Scottish Government spending nearly £100,000 per month
on vehicle costs, Scottish Labour has called for answers over the
appropriateness of this use of a substantial amount of public
money.
Commenting, Scottish Labour finance spokesperson
said:
“This is an eye-watering amount of money paid to car companies in
such a short space of time – we need answers from the government
over how and why every penny was spent.
“To fritter nearly £100,000 on Tesla while thousands of Scots are
struggling to make ends meet is a slap in the face to the people
of Scotland.
“Of course, the government needs to spend money on vehicle costs,
but the amount of money paid in such a short time does not just
raise eyebrows, it raises alarm.
“We need answers from the government over this eye-watering
wastage of public money, and we need them now.”
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
Government spend over £25,000:
January 2020
Government spend over £25,000:
March 2020
Government spend over £25,000:
February 2019
Government spend over £25,000:
March 2019
Government spend over £25,000
June 2019
Government spend over £25,000:
September 2019
Government spend over £25,000:
October 2019