DISGRACED former finance minister Derek Mackay has received counselling support paid for by the SNP.

The MSP, who is now an independent after being suspended from the party and having the whip withdrawn, is understood to have received support on his former party’s tab after he was found to have been messaging a schoolboy online.

He is also understood to be active again on social media.

Several senior SNP sources said the MSP had been “looked after” by the party, despite his suspension, with one adding: “He’s had counselling and stuff, the party paid for it. I think people are genuinely very worried about him, and while obviously what he did isn’t acceptable in the slightest, there is still a duty of care element there.”

Another source close to the MSP said he “seemed to be doing better” than he had been in the weeks since the scandal broke in February this year.

It is understood the MP has been back on social media, including picture-sharing app Instagram, although his accounts are private.

The source added: “He’s back on social media by the looks of things, and I think he seems to be doing better albeit keeping a very low profile.

“His behaviour isn’t excusable at all, but at the end of the day he’s a human being and of course needs support.”

It is understood he has not been in touch with many of his former SNP colleagues from Holyrood or Westminster since he was exposed as having messaged a schoolboy on Instagram.

The SNP did not want to comment on the claims they had paid for counselling for Mr Mackay, although one party source said as a former employer the party still had an obligation for his welfare.

The 43-year-old quit as a minister just hours before he was due to deliver Scotland’s £40bn Draft Budget on February 6 this year.

It left junior minister Kate Forbes, 30, to deliver the budget in his place with no notice and very little time to prepare.

The MSP who is now the permanent Finance Secretary was widely applauded for her delivery, which has seen her rise to prominence within her party since she took over from Mackay.

Mr Mackay, who was tipped as a potential future First Minister at one stage, resigned after bombarding a schoolboy he befriended on Facebook and Instagram with hundreds of online messages over a six-month period – including one calling him “really cute”.

He called the teenager “cute”, invited him to dinner and asked that their conversations be kept secret.

The messages, which sent shockwaves through Holyrood, continued even after the boy revealed he was still in school, and then later said he was 16.

Police were asked to investigate the messages but later confirmed he would not face prosecution, saying “there is nothing to suggest an offence has been committed”.

The day after the explosive messages were revealed, an SNP activist Shaun Cameron, said he had received Facebook messages from the ex-minister after meeting him at a party event when he was 21. He said some of the messages were “quite suggestive”.

And the Herald exclusively revealed that Mr Mackay had been banned from drinking at SNP conferences by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

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A former SNP staff member told this newspaper it was “common knowledge” that Mackay was openly flirtatious with younger male members of the party, and was said to have regularly enjoyed energetic evenings at nightclubs with young men.

Mackay was claimed to have been highly enthusiastic at the party’s infamous “conference karaoke” social events, which take place each year.

In 2017, he even joked that conference attendees would not be seeing him at the pub after the event as “Nicola won’t let me”.

Opposition parties called Mr Mackay’s conduct “predatory” and suggested it amounted to grooming.

The SNP, which suspended him from the party and removed the party whip at Holyrood, is holding its own internal inquiry into his conduct.

The news that he is being supported by his old party comes after it emerged he is still claiming parliamentary expenses for accommodation in Edinburgh, despite not attending Holyrood.

He claimed more than £300 for rent in the capital for 10 days in July this year.

A spokesman for Mr Mackay previously said the claim "complies with Scottish Parliament allowance rules" and "covered the notice period and requirements of terminating the accommodation tenancy".

He added: "Mr Mackay's Renfrewshire North and West constituency office is continuing to operate remotely, in line with the Scottish government's coronavirus guidance, in dealing with casework and making representations on behalf of constituents."

Expenses records for the period directly after Mr Mackay resigned from his role are not currently published, however the BBC reported his rent claims after seeing expense reports filed by the Renfrewshire North and West MSP, totalling £327.10.

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While the Parliament was in recess at the time, members were called in one day so the First Minister could update them on the current situation with the pandemic. Mr Mackay was not in attendance.

In June, Mr Mackay updated his register of interests to show that he stopped being the Honorary Vice President of the Battalion for Paisley and District Boys’ Brigade and stopped as the Honorary President of the Renfrew Burgh Band. His register states he held the posts “until February” 2020.