Cole-Hamilton attacks "vast" pay off to water industry boss

Responding to the news that the former chief executive of Scotland’s water regulator was allowed to stand down with six months’ pay despite revelations about spending that included hundreds of pounds of meals claimed on expenses and a nearly £80,000 Harvard training course for a senior manager, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

"There seems to be a total lack of shame about throwing away vast sums of taxpayers' money.

"The Audit Scotland report was among the most damning as any I have ever read, yet stepping down with six months of a gigantic salary hardly feels like a punishment at all.

"The more time the water industry spend in the spotlight, the grubbier it all seems."