SNP MSP cites illness after Transport Scotland committee blunder

SNP MSP Collette Stevenson has said a chest infection and lack of sleep affected her concentration when she asked at a Scottish Parliament committee hearing whether Transport Scotland was a registered charity. The question, put to officials during a session on rail services, drew public ridicule. [5] [7]

Transport Scotland is an executive agency of the Scottish Government, accountable to ministers. [2] Rail-delivery director Graeme Cook told the committee that its staff were already civil servants and that the agency was the same legal entity as the Scottish government. [5]

In a Facebook statement, Stevenson, who represents East Kilbride, said she had been in the early stages of a severe chest infection that disrupted her sleep and concentration. She said she had since taken the week off Parliament on medical advice following an asthma flare-up. Committee minutes record her apology for absence from a meeting on 23 September. [5] [4]