The Secretary of Health who used a driver to play football was ‘doing work’

Health Secretary Neil Gray was “doing his job” when he used a ministerial car to attend three Aberdeen football matches in Hampden, a cabinet colleague said.

Gray, an Aberdeen fan, came under fire from opposition figures after The Sunday Post revealed he was chauffeured to three cup matches at the national stadium as well as a league match at Pittodrie.

Gillian Martin, acting net zero energy secretary, said the events were “in line with her government duties”.

A government spokesperson said publicly funded car trips were “in line with travel and subsistence policies to ensure we offer the best possible value for money to the Scottish public”.

Gray has been awarded VIP seats at Hampden, as a guest of the Scottish Football Association (SFA), three times, once in his current role and twice when he was Wellbeing, Fair Work and Energy Economy Secretary.

The Airdrie and Shotts MSP watched Aberdeen v Hibernian in the Scottish League Cup semi-final in November, and the final against Rangers in December, as well as the Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic in April.

The minister, originally from Orkney, was also taken to an Aberdeen local league match against Livingston in May during a day of ministerial visits in the city.

The first two matches were recorded in the Scottish Government’s register of ministerial engagements, trips and gifts as meetings with the SFA about the “social impact” of investment in sport.

These last two were registered under the theme “sport”.

Grey took over as health secretary by Michael Matheson in February 2023.

Matheson resigned after an £11k data roaming bill accrued on his parliamentary iPad, which he said had been used by his children to watch football matches during a family holiday.

A government spokesperson said sport is part of Gray’s mandate as health secretary and said he regularly attended sporting events “to support workers and players”.

Martin said Good Morning Scotland from BBC Radio: “I understand that Neil Gray was doing his job as cabinet secretary for health and sport and it appears that he has made visits in accordance with his government duties in line with his responsibilities for sport.

“So you would use a ministry car to get to somewhere where you were holding a ministry event and that’s pretty standard.”

He added: “The fact of the matter is that you wouldn’t get a ministerial car unless there was a ministerial visit associated with it.

“And that’s just a fact. You couldn’t get a ministerial car unless it was a ministerial matter.”

Ministers are entitled to publicly funded car transport as part of their job. He policy states “cannot be financed with public funds for trips whose main objective is not related to the performance of ministerial functions.”

Several ministers have used the chauffeur service for sporting events in recent months.

Rural Affairs Minister Mairi Gougeon was driven to Murrayfield to watch the Scotland rugby match, registering it as an event to promote aquaculture.

Siobhian Brown, community safety minister, attended Scotland’s friendly against Finland at Hampden and described it as being about “safer communities”.

Minister for Jobs and Investment Tom Arthur also used the car service to travel to Hampden to watch the Scottish Cup final between Celtic and Rangers. He registered it as a ministerial visit for “sports/investment.”

Scottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton called on the Health Secretary to make a statement to Holyrood accusing it of making “shoddy excuses”.

He said: “Neil Gray must explain all the facts of what he has done to the Scottish Parliament and let the public judge for themselves,” he said.

Scottish Labor deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “These taxpayer-funded trips are sure to attract attention and Neil Gray must clearly explain how all these trips can be considered Scottish Government business.”

Responding to the Conservatives, an SNP spokesperson said: “This false outrage from the Conservatives would have more credibility if it weren’t for the fact that they themselves have repeatedly attended sporting events in their capacity as MSPs.

“No doubt they did so because they agree with us that it is very important that elected representatives support Scotland’s thriving sporting events.”