EXCLUSIVE Netflix, porn and gambling websites viewed on civil servants' laptops as majority continue to WFH

Daily Mail​

17-05-2025

Civil servants have been watching Netflix and accessing porn websites on their SNP government-issued laptops, the Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Government staff - most of whom were working from home - have streamed their favourite Netflix shows so many times in the past six months that officials say the number of attempts to log onto the streaming channel is too high to calculate.
On sixteen occasions civil servants have visited the x-rated Pornhub sex site and online betting sites Betfair and Paddy Power on their government devices, new data shows.
The shocking figures emerged days after a row over a new drive to get Scottish civil servants back into the office.
First Minister John Swinney said he approved of making officials work at least two days at their desk to boost productivity.
However the plan for an average 40 per cent attendance provoked a backlash from staff working from home.
The bloated devolved civil service - which has grown by more than 70 per cent since 2016 - is now costing the the taxpayer over £600 million a year.
It was recently revealed local government staff were working from far-flung locations including the United Arab Emirates and eastern Europe.
The latest revelations follow Health Secretary Michael Matheson having to resign after he racked up an £11,000 bill on his work iPad while abroad on a family holiday - and charged it to the public purse, before he resigned his position and agreed to pay it back.
Last night critics said taxpayers would be appalled by civil servants' use of their official laptops and devices.
Scottish Conservative MSP Annie Wells said: 'Hard-pressed Scottish taxpayers will be furious and appalled to learn they are footing the bill for civil servants to access dodgy websites and watch Netflix.
'What does it say about the culture within the SNP government that staff think it's okay to use a work device to watch pornography or place a bet?
'Scots are paying the highest rates of income tax in the UK to support the SNP's growing army of civil servants while our public services worsen, and yet this is what some civil servants are choosing to spend their time on.'
Benjamin Elks, of the TaxPayers' Alliance added: 'Scottish taxpayers will be rightly disgusted to see what their civil servants have been up to.
'It's clear that these pen-pushers have too much time on their hands as they work at home, failing to deliver for hard-working Scots.
'Anyone caught using government devices to access pornography should be sacked without hesitation.'
Figures obtained under freedom of information laws lay bare the number of times civil servants in Scotland have used government-issued devices to access inappropriate websites.
Records show there were at least 16 attempts to access pornography and gambling websites on taxpayer-funded devices in the past six months.
Since November, there have been six attempts to access Pornhub, six attempts to access Betfair and four attempts to access Paddy Power on Scottish Government devices.
Officials refused to share how many attempts there were to watch Netflix by civil servants, saying it would cost more than £600 to sort through the number of the attempts.
In response to a freedom of information request, it said: 'While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the costs of locating, retrieving and providing the information for Netflix as requested would exceed the upper cost limit of £600… the Netflix dataset was too large and included too many duplicate entries to sort within a reasonable time frame and within the applicable cost limit.'
The new statistics, obtained by the Scottish Conservatives, follow public backlash over the number of civil servants still working from home despite the pandemic ending years ago.
Some workers have been told they only need to attend their offices one day a week, although the official expectation is for them to attend for two.
The work from home culture has had a major impact on the vitality of town centres, with many shops, bars and restaurants reliant on trade from office workers.
Even First Minister John Swinney has said Scotland's Permanent Secretary should 'go further' in getting employees back to work.
Meanwhile Scotland's bloated public sector is costing the taxpayer over £600 million a year, double the bill charged eight years ago.
The devolved civil service workforce also stood at more than 9,000 last year – a 71 per cent rise since 2016.
Staff at one Scottish council have been working from countries as far away as the United Arab Emirates, sparking questions about their tax affairs and other working arrangements.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: 'Any attempt to access, download, display, store or distribute pornographic, racist or other offensive material, or material relating to illegal activities is considered a disciplinary matter, as outlined in the Scottish Government's IT Code of Conduct.
'Action is taken in line with Scottish Government disciplinary policy where concerns are identified.
'Scottish Government staff can use devices for personal use if this is within their own time, for example during the weekend or a lunchbreak. This is subject to restrictions on certain activities such as running a personal website or attempting to access inappropriate material online.
'The Scottish Government has in place recruitment and workforce controls to reduce its workforce size.'