A Holyrood committee will quiz officials from Scotland’s water industry regulator and the Scottish Government later this month, as it continues to examine the regulator’s finances.
Former Wics chief executive Alan Sutherland resigned hours after Audit Scotland published the report disclosing “unacceptable” spending. It was later revealed he had claimed a £400 high-end restaurant meal on an office credit card, with the expense being paid despite failing to provide a receipt. In June, it emerged that more staff members at Wics had benefited from executive training courses, including MBAs costing more than £70,000. Interim chief executive David Satti told the committee the firm has trouble retaining staff, who depart for higher paid jobs, and has a “longstanding policy of funding MBA programmes” for those who show “consistent high performance”.
However he said these courses were not subject to competitive procurement, adding: “Wics should have sought approval for these courses in line with the governance framework in place and sought approval from the sponsorship team for these in advance. Retrospective approval was only sought for one course at Harvard Business School.”