Scottish Government public holidays, staffing numbers and working patterns: FOI release

Information requested

1. A list of all public holidays which are observed by the Scottish Government which are not official bank holidays, as listed on your website. Please include dates these fell on in 2023.

2. The total number of Scottish Government staff, by headcount, in total on Monday, September 19, 2022 (i.e the 'autumn public holiday' last year).

3. The number of Scottish Government staff, by headcount, who were not required to work on Monday, September 19,2022, who would otherwise have been expected to work, as a result of the bank holiday.

4. The cost to the Scottish Government of wages for staff not required to work on September 19, 2022.

5. The cost of overtime payments for staff who were required to work on September 19, 2022

6. A list of Scottish Government agencies which also grant staff the same unofficial bank holidays.

Response

I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested.

1. A list of all public holidays which are observed by the Scottish Government.

Please see the attached PDF document titled ‘P&P Holidays 2023’ for a list of public and privilege holidays which are observed by Scottish Government which are not official bank holidays, with the dates for 2023.

2. The total number of Scottish Government staff, by headcount, in total on Monday 19th September 2022.

We do not hold the exact data for the 19th September 2022. The nearest date we are able to provide statistics for is 30th September 2022. This is already accessible via statistics on gov.scot. Please see tab T1. FTE Directly employed, row 45 in the spreadsheet. This response relates to Scottish Government Core only. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

3. The number of Scottish Government staff, by headcount, who were not required to work on Monday, September 19, 2022, who would otherwise have been expected to work, as a result of the bank holiday.

19th September 2022 was the date of Her Majesty the Queen’s State Funeral, which was a national bank holiday as per gov.uk guidance. Therefore, this holiday was treated as with any other bank holiday. Therefore, the headcount in question 2 would not have been required to work. Separate arrangements for leave are in place for Marine Scotland ship crews. There were 172 of such staff (154 directly employed, 14 contingent workers) at 30th September 2022.

4. The cost to the Scottish Government of wages for staff not required to work on 19th September 2022.

Regular salary costs to the Scottish Government, excluding Marine Scotland ship crews, were £1,533,769 for 19th September 2022.

5. The cost of overtime payments for staff who were required to work on September 19, 2022.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. Overtime is claimed on a weekly basis, and Scottish Government is unable to determine costs for an individual day. This response related to Scottish Government Core only under section 17 of FOISA.

6. A list of Scottish Government agencies which also grant staff the same unofficial bank holidays.

Those agencies and other bodies falling within the Scottish Government Main (SGM) bargaining unit will observe similar dates to the Scottish Government. A list of these other bodies is included in the table below. We are not able to confirm arrangements for those bodies outside the bargaining unit.

Scottish Government Core Directorates		Agencies	Non-Ministerial Offices (NMOs)
Communities		Accountancy in Bankruptcy	Community Justice Scotland
Corporate		Disclosure Scotland	Food Standards Scotland
Economy		Education Scotland	National Records of Scotland
Education and Justice		Scottish Public Pensions Agency	Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator
Health and Social Care		Social Security Scotland	Revenue Scotland
Net Zero		Student Awards Agency for Scotland	Scottish Fiscal Commission
Scottish Exchequer		Transport Scotland	Scottish Housing Regulator
Strategy and External Affairs

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202300376366 - Information Released - Annex A

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2 page PDF

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61.5 kB