NO formal disciplinary action for civil servants caught accessing porn on government devices

Newly released documents have revealed that no Scottish civil servants have faced formal disciplinary action after being caught accessing pornography on government-issued devices. Officials confirmed that none of the cases identified were escalated to formal HR disciplinary procedures, suggesting offenders were likely dealt with informally by line managers rather than facing serious sanctions. The disclosure has reignited criticism of standards and oversight within the SNP Government's civil service, coming amid separate ongoing rows over low office attendance and home working.

The controversy stems from a Freedom of Information request by the Scottish Mail on Sunday in May last year, which found government devices had been used to access Pornhub six times and betting sites Betfair and Paddy Power a further ten times over six months, alongside numerous attempts to access Netflix. Scottish Tory justice spokesman Stephen Kerr condemned the lack of formal action as "unacceptable" and drew a comparison with the scandal involving former Health Secretary Michael Matheson, who quit in 2024 after running up an £11,000 data-roaming bill on a parliamentary iPad. The Scottish Government said minor breaches of its IT Code of Conduct are handled by line managers day-to-day and not recorded centrally, with escalation to formal HR procedures reserved for more serious misconduct.