Civil servants let off with ‘slaps on the wrist' after being caught watching porn on government laptops
The Scottish Government has admitted there have been six attempts to log on to Pornhub since November alone
GOV STAFF RAP Civil servants let off with 'slaps on the wrist' after being caught watching porn on government laptops
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CIVIL servants caught watching porn have been let off with 'slaps on the wrist', we can reveal.
Only two have received formal written warnings since 2018 for accessing X-rated websites on their taxpayer-funded laptops.
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The revelation comes after a written question to Nats ministers from Douglas Lumsden
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Yet the Scottish Government has admitted there have been six attempts to log on to Pornhub since November alone.
Scottish Tory MSP Douglas Lumsden said: 'It's completely inappropriate for publicly funded equipment to be used to access dodgy websites or for other non-work purposes.
'But it's typical of the SNP government's reckless disregard for taxpayers' money that abuses of this sort, whether by ministers or civil servants, result in no more than a slap on the wrist.'
The revelation comes following a written question to Nats ministers from Mr Lumsden.
In it, SNP chiefs reveal the two formal disciplinary cases against civil servants accessing porn on government devices resulted in two written warnings.
One was for six-months, and the other was for a year.
But Benjamin Elks, of the TaxPayers' Alliance said: 'Anyone caught using government devices to access pornography should be sacked without hesitation.
'Scottish taxpayers will be rightly disgusted to see what their civil servants have been up to.'
Just days ago John Swinney approved civil servants being forced to work in the office at least two days a week in a bid to boost productivity.
And it comes after it was confirmed many government officials - most of whom were working from home - spend their time streaming their favourite Netflix shows.
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Ministers said the number of attempts to log onto the streaming channel is too high to calculate.
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.
A Scottish Government spokesperson 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.'
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