Chamber and committees

What is your opinion on that?

You made the link. I have it in front of me.

Are you saying that, despite the fact that he was on retainer for a number of years, no one in the Government knew about it?

I want to backtrack a little. Were dismissal and gross misconduct the same option or separate ones?

A fairly damning Audit Scotland report highlighted that tens of thousands of pounds were spent, using a corporate credit card, on lavish meals, first-class travel, fine wines and so on, with no accountability and no approval being sought. Are those not grounds for dismissal?

Did you approve the business case or not?

How can you provide a view on a business case that has been presented to you after the deal has been done?

The payment was made; it was too late—the ship had sailed—so WICS or the board or someone within WICS came to the Government looking for retrospective approval of a business case for something that had already happened. Is that correct?

The letter in March from the Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy—Ms McAllan at the time—to you, as the chair, Mr MacRae, is quite damning. Do you have it in front of you?

Okay, so let us look at the letter. First, the cabinet secretary seems to imply that she is pleased that the CEO has exited with immediate effect,

“given the nature of the serious failings that were identified”.

However, she says that it has been brought her attention that,

“in choosing a Settlement Agreement to conclude the departure ... the Board failed to follow due process.”

I will repeat that: the board failed to follow due process. Do you accept that the board failed to follow due process?