The SNP’s Dunfermline and Dollar election candidate lobbied friends in the Scottish Government in a bid to gain NHS contracts for his recruitment firm, The Courier can reveal.
Naz Anis-Miah – who lists himself as director of operations for recruitment consultants AGB Resourcing since 2018 on his LinkedIn profile – met Humza Yousaf during the former first minister’s time as health secretary.
He also dined with Fife SNP minister Shirley-Anne Somerville.
On August 2, 2021, an associate claiming to represent AGB wrote to the government saying the business could tackle NHS staff shortages by supplying up to 40,000 nurses from abroad “immediately”.
There is no evidence the company was successful in obtaining any contracts.
In social media posts, he claims to have discussed AGB business with both politicians, with its company website boasting about its Holyrood and Westminster connections.
AGB adds: “If you are a formally registered recruitment agency and are interested in the current opportunities of recruiting to the UK, contact us to discuss our favourable business terms.”
But Mr Anis-Miah never declared any of his meetings with senior party figures, nor did his firm log its request to the Scottish Government for NHS contracts.
Neither the SNP councillor nor his business are signed up to the Scottish Parliament’s official lobbying register.
Exemptions to the rules do apply for companies with less than 10 employees.
Official lobbying rules state this is not the case if a small firm is acting on behalf of another client or company.
But the lack of any paper trail – including the absence of a Companies House page – leaves question marks over whether AGB Resourcing should be exempt.
The revelations raise questions about transparency and the role of the private sector in delivering healthcare in Scotland.
‘Questions must be answered’
A Scottish Labour spokesperson said: “Questions must be answered by Naz Anis-Miah, the SNP, and the Scottish Government about this history of lobbying which appears to have happened without following basic rules around transparency.”
When Mr Anis-Miah and Mr Yousaf met, the future election candidate claimed it was to discuss how Scotland’s “care staffing crisis” could be eased.
And Mr Yousaf namechecked him in Holyrood last year when he was first minister, describing him as someone “who I know well”.
When AGB wrote to the Scottish Government requesting contracts, a meeting with Mr Yousaf was also requested.
One paragraph in the letter reads: “We can supply nurses who can start working straight away in a 3-month timescale (most agencies take 6 to 12 months) and help get the NHS ready coming out of this pandemic to meet all targets and offer the best services to the people of Scotland.”
Mr Anis-Miah and AGB finance director Craig McIvor had dinner with Ms Somerville – education secretary at the time – on August 19, 2021, just two weeks after AGB Resourcing wrote to the government.
The company posted a photograph on social media saying they were meeting to “discuss business for Scotland”.
An SNP spokesperson said: “Lobbying rules are clear on what constitutes lobbying and what doesn’t – and this does not.
“MSPs meet with local small businesses on a daily basis, and as an SNP activist and local councillor, he knows Ms Somerville well.
“Through the work of Scots Asians for Independence, which Humza Yousaf has been involved with for 20 years, he has met almost every Scots Asian activist in the SNP – and that includes Naz, who will next month be the first male Scots Asian to be elected as an SNP MP.”
AGB shares an address with a pro-independence shop named Yes in the City, in Dunfermline.
Mr Anis-Miah was listed as a director for two companies also registered at this address.
He resigned his directorship of Dunfermline Business Services on May 25 and stepped back from a separate firm called JHunkin Services in March.
Both firms are listed as having no employees.
Mr Anis-Miah states he has a stake in both on his Fife Council website page.
Dunfermline and Dollar Labour candidate Graeme Downie said: “Anyone seeking the privilege to become the next MP for Dunfermline and Dollar shouldn’t be hiding from basic questions of accountability.”
Mr Anis-Miah was selected to contest Dunfermline and Dollar after the previous SNP candidate, Brian Goodall, stepped back.
He is hoping to replace outgoing nationalist MP Douglas Chapman, who quit ahead of the election after claims of a plot to oust him.
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