MSPs to quiz rail share row chief

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A committee of MSPs is to grill former Transport Scotland finance chief Guy Houston, who resigned after being caught up in a shareholding row.

Mr Houston quit after it emerged he had attended meetings about a £2.5bn rail franchise deal, despite holding shares in First Group, which won the contract.

Holyrood's Public Audit Committee has been holding an inquiry into the deal.

A Scottish Parliament spokeswoman confirmed Mr Houston would appear before the committee later this month.

The contract to run rail services in Scotland is the largest of its kind awarded by the Scottish Government and is worth about £2.5bn over 10 years.

An Audit Scotland report last November found that Mr Houston was at meetings about the First ScotRail deal, and the minutes do not indicate that he excused himself or declared an interest.

Mr Houston resigned when the report was published.

Annual accounts

Transport Scotland chief executive Malcolm Reed told the Public Audit Committee earlier this year that Mr Houston only attended two meetings after the deal had been struck and played no part in its "shaping or management".

But the committee later heard from Audit Scotland that the deal was agreed by Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson on 27 March last year - and that Mr Houston had attended a meeting about the extension eight days previously.

His shareholding was declared in Transport Scotland's annual accounts.

Mr Houston previously worked for the UK bus division of First Group before joining Transport Scotland three years ago on a salary in the range of £90,000 to £95,000.

The transport minister came under fire from the committee earlier this year, after repeatedly refusing to say if he or finance secretary John Swinney had told civil service chiefs that Mr Houston should go.