The SNP's auditors are confident they will file the party's Westminster accounts on time, Humza Yousaf has said. The SNP Westminster group have until the end of the month to get their accounts signed off by House of Commons authorities. They could miss out on £1.2million of parliamentary money if they do not.
The party's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn previously said that jobs could be at risk if the group lost out on the cash. The SNP finally appointed auditors for the Holyrood party and Westminster group a fortnight ago after it had been without them since October.
The failure to appoint new auditors had caused tension within the group, with Flynn and former Westminster leader Ian Blackford involved in a public spat. Flynn said he was only informed that Johnston Carmichael had resigned in February, while Yousaf found out when he became party leader in March.
But Yousaf said that the auditors were now "confident" that the May 31 deadline would be met. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: “We had a conversation with (the auditors) as a party… and certainly the last conversation we had with the auditors, they were confident in meeting that deadline.”
The Westminster group’s accounts must be filed by the end of this month with the Commons authorities. The party risks losing out on so-called Short money if it does not do so.
Short money is public funds paid to opposition parties at Westminster to support their work in parliament. During the period where the party was without accountants, the investigation into the party’s finances intensified.
Former chief executive and Nicola Sturgeon's husband Peter Murrell and then treasurer Colin Beattie were both arrested and released without charge pending further investigation.
Former First Minister Sturgeon and Murrell's house was raided by police. A luxury motorhome was also seized from Murrell's mother's house in Dunfermline.
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