EXCLUSIVE Nicola Sturgeon’s aides billed Scottish taxpayers £175 for office coffee machines, £50 for a fancy cover for her iPad and almost £1,700 for plush dinner and meeting of economic advisers when she was First Minister, documents show

Nicola Sturgeon‘s aides billed Scottish taxpayers for posh coffee machines for her office, a fancy cover for her iPad and more than £1,700 for gatherings of her inner circle of economic advisers, documents reveal. 

Staff working for the then First Minister bought two coffee machines in two months in 2020 for her office, with an initial £115 model purchased in May supplemented with a cheaper £60 model two months later.

The details of leaked credit card spending by the Scottish Government between 2019 and 2022 also shows they spent almost £700 on coffee in the space of a year.

Staff also paid almost £50 for a cover for the First Minister’s iPad tablet from the Apple Store. This is despite such covers being available for as little as £10 on Amazon.

The data, obtained by the Scottish Labour Party, also shows that the Government paid out almost £700 for a ‘private dinner’ for members of Ms Sturgeon’s Council of Economic Advisers in March 2020, just days before the Covid lockdown started.

Just two days after the meal at the Hilton in Edinburgh was put through, taxpayers were billed £986 for ‘hospitality’ at the two-day March meeting of the council.

It comes after Ms Sturgeon was criticised for spending £10,000 of taxpayers’ money on VIP treatment at airports while travelling. 

Last night she brushed this money off as ‘probably less than one private jet flight for Rishi Sunak’.

Records show Ms Sturgeon attended one day of the economic advisers meeting along with eight senior economic and health figures, plus 13 other ministers and senior civil servants. 

One of the subjects discussed were efforts by the SNP administration to ‘protect the economy from inevitable damage of Brexit.’

The catering was done by Saltire Hospitality, which delivers ‘bespoke catering services in Edinburgh and beyond’ and prides itself on having ‘close working relationships with local suppliers to serve the very best Scottish produce to you and your guests’.

That came in the wake of reports that £14.2m of taxpayers’ money had been spent by Scottish civil servants in three years. 

Purchases by senior staff included yoga classes, nail polish and £4,182 for hospitality and hotel accommodation at the five-star Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire in September 2019 for a women in sports event.

The 58,751 purchases on procurement cards, obtained by Scottish Labour, also covered a staff member’s driving theory test, china crockery for a meeting room, a £27 ‘homedisco’ from eBay and £272 on ‘wellington boots for inspections’.

There were also trips to Edinburgh zoo, further lavish hotel stays and games of crazy golf, 

A variety of books were also purchased, including six copies of a book of speeches by Ms Sturgeon and 21 copies of How To Run A Government So That Citizens Benefit And Taxpayers Don’t Go Crazy.

 Ms Sturgeon has described coffee as her one luxury she would want on a desert island. In 2015 an expensive coffee machine was seen in her family home when Ms Sturgeon invited journalist Susanna Reid from ITV’s Good Morning Britain into her property.

The De’Longhi PrimaDonna Avant espresso and cappuccino maker was reported at the time to retail at £1,395, although it was later pointed out it could also be found on sale for almost half that amount.

Scottish taxpayers forked out almost £10,000 on VIP treatment for Nicola Sturgeon when she flew on official business when she was first minister, it was revealed this week.

Appearing in Iain Dale’s All Talk show at the Edinburgh Fringe last night, Ms Sturgeon said first ministers need to have ‘the ability to travel through an airport quickly and securely’.

She added: ‘I don’t know if that is an outrage, make up your own mind.’

On spending on airport services she said: ‘I think I saw £10,000 over a couple of years. That’s probably less than one private jet flight for Rishi Sunak.’

Ms Sturgeon added that ‘being careful with public money, taxpayers’ pounds and pennies, of course that is important’.

But she also said: ‘For any first minister, probably for any head of government anywhere, all of your travel is informed by security considerations.’

The Scottish Government has declined to comment on the spending data, but First Minister has ordered a review of credit card use.