Scottish Government blasted for spending £1.2million of public money on cars – Daily Record

The Scottish Government’s outlay on official cars has questioned after figures revealed it spent more than £1.2m on vehicle costs in the space of a year.

Figures, obtained by Labour, show the cash was spent on purchasing new vehicles and “additions” from February 2019 until January last year.

Nearly £100,000 of these costs (£96,480) was paid to Elon Musk ’s Tesla company, a company specialising in high-end electric cars and dogged by allegations of workers’ rights violations.

Labour questioned why spending on official vehicles was running at almost £100,000 a month during the period for which figures were shared.

The Scottish Government said the cars in question were pool vehicles, used only for official business, and were procured as part of its wider carbon reduction plans.

“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.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “We are committed to phasing out petrol and diesel cars from the public sector fleet by 2025 and replacing fossil-fuelled vehicles with plug-in or fully electric vehicles where appropriate.

“This is demonstrated by our increased investment in ultra-low emitting electric vehicles, which now make up 51% of the overall current fleet (and 100% of the current Government Car Service fleet).”

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