Michael Matheson given extension to respond to Scottish Parliament iPad investigation

Michael Matheson has been given a ten-day extension to respond to the findings of the investigation into his iPad roaming charges.

The former health secretary resigned on February 8 – the same day he was handed the draft findings of the report.

The Scottish Parliament Corporate Body (SPCB) gave Matheson 14 days to respond to the probe.

But on February 14, the Falkirk West MSP asked investigators to give him more time to respond.

The SPCB confirmed on Thursday it had given him a ten-day extension.

The body, comprised of a cross-party group of MSPs, said: “The SPCB noted its responsibility to ensure that the member was afforded a fair process, including the opportunity to obtain advice if necessary and to ensure that the report was complete and accurate.

“The SPCB also noted the public interest in discharging its functions under the code of conduct promptly.”

A spokesperson for the Scottish Parliament said: “For reasons of fairness to all, and confidentiality of process, we will not comment while the parliamentary investigation is ongoing.

“The SPCB remains committed to openness and transparency and will release all material it can, when it can, in line with its legal obligations.”

What are the £11,000 iPad roaming charges?

Pressure on Matheson to resign as Scotland’s health secretary after it was revealed that he had racked up an £11,000 iPad roaming bill while on a family holiday in Morocco.

The charge was billed to the public purse but after the story broke the former secretary said he would pay it himself.

He told journalists he did not know how the charge was racked up but later admitted his sons had used the official parliamentary device to watch football.

They only used about 6GB of data but due to EE’s extremely high roaming charges the bill totalled around £11,000.

He faced accusations that he lied to the media after he told journalists he did not know how the data was ran up.

A parliamentary investigation into the use of the device was then announced and is expected to be released to the public sometime in the coming weeks.

Yousaf faced repeated calls to sack his health secretary but refused.

On February 8, Matheson said he would step down and become a backbench MSP.