THE boss of one of Scotland's biggest transport organisations is to quit after being caught up in an expenses row.
Alistair Watson, chairman of Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, was set to formally resign today on health grounds. He has been at the centre of an investigation into how public money has been spent by the quango's senior executives.
Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show a handful of top officials claimed pound(s)117,573 in the last three years. This included pound(s)49,195 on overseas trips to China, India, Italy, America, Singapore, Russia, Spain, Germany and the Czech Republic, where they stayed in some of the world's most luxurious hotels.
Their other claims included pound(s)1700 for travel, meals and accommodation in Manchester during a trip that coincided with the Uefa Cup final between Rangers and Zenit St Petersburg.
Mr Watson, a Labour councillor appointed to the SPT board by Glasgow City Council, was also under pressure pandora style beads to explain apparent discrepancies in his register of interests.
One discrepancy was for a football match between Rangers and Hamilton last August where his register of interests say he was a guest of City Building, an arm's-length company set up by the council. The company has denied offering him hospitality.
Steven Purcell, Glasgow City Council leader, is said to be "flaming mad" about Mr Watson's activities. A source close to him said it reminded Mr Purcell of some councillors' behaviour when he was first elected, which he said he had worked hard to stamp out. He said there had been a "procession" of councillors complaining about the allegations surrounding Mr Watson.
Mr Purcell's aides have been examining replica breitling the FoI documents for weeks, and the source said: "We are not getting answers to our questions and it is starting to reflect badly on Alistair Watson, as the chairman of SPT, and on the council. Alistair is resigning on health grounds but it's been made clear to him by Purcell that what's been going had to stop.
"There's a pattern of SPT spending money, not illegally or immorally but in a way that its usefulness is not entirely clear. As chairman, catalog printing he should have had a better grip on it."
Also caught up in the row are Ron Culley, the SPT's pound(s)129,000-a-year chief executive, and the transport group's director of communications, former BBC Scotland investigative reporter Bob Wylie. Mr Culley, who has been off work for six weeks with a heart condition, claimed pound(s)4,686 on personal expenses, including meals in some of Glasgow's best restaurants.
Public spending watchdog Audit Scotland said it had received a complaint and had alerted KPMG, the firm that carries out audits of SPT. An SPT spokeswoman confirmed Mr Watson has tendered his resignation with effect from today.
She said: "He had health problems last year and he has been advised to reduce his workload." SNP councillor Graeme Hendry, who made the complaint to Audit Scotland, called for a "full investigation over the use of funds at SPT". Mr Watson did not return calls yesterday.
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