Mind the pay gap: quango chief execs paid more than £10m
The chief executives of quangos appointed by Scottish Government ministers were paid over £10m in total last year
Lobbying loophole: How big business influences Scottish ministers without scrutiny
Hundreds of meetings between Scottish ministers and multinationals, wealthy individuals and other influential organisations were left off the lobbying register in 2020 due to loopholes in legislation.
‘Big energy’ dominates lobbying of Scottish Government amid climate crisis
Questions have been raised over the power and influence of energy companies lobbying Scottish ministers and special advisors.
Fuel, fishing, finance: powerful interests dominate Scotland Office meetings
Big business including oil and renewable energy, farming, fishing, finance and whisky dominated Scotland Office ministers’ meetings last year, analysis by The Ferret has found.
Rise in prison deaths raises questions about access to health care
A “small but sharp” rise in deaths in prisons should prompt serious questions about the impact of pandemic restrictions of those in jail, according to campaigners.
Emails reveal Scottish ministers snubbed by Priti Patel over immigration raid
A series of urgent emails from the heart of the Scottish Government on the day of a Home Office immigration raid in Glasgow’s Pollokshields have laid bare growing tensions between the two administrations.
Poverty tsar calls for Home Office accountability over asylum support crisis
The chair of Scotland’s poverty and inequality commission has called for the Home Office to be held to account for leaving aslylum seekers without food or money.
Delayed discharges from mental health wards of more than three years recorded
Hundreds are facing discharge delay from mental health wards despite being well enough to be discharged - in the most extreme cases for more than three years.
Concerns raised over ‘lethal’ risk of Ineos pipe on proposed quarry site
Campaigners in the Scottish Borders are raising growing concerns about a proposal for quarry which has an Ineos ethylene gas pipeline running through it.