Chief of Staff to the First Minister: FOI release

Information requested

• All Chief of Staff to the First Minister, and who the First Minister was they were Chief of Staff to
• The tenure of duration of each chief of staff
• General duties, roles and responsibilities of the Chief of Staff to the First Minister
• Engagements of the Chief of Staff within the Scottish Government, office of the First Minister (government department) and/or internationally outside Scotland.

Response

The answer to "All Chief of Staff to the First Minister, and who the First Minister was they were Chief of Staff to / The tenure of duration of each chief of staff.”

Since May 2007, the following people have held the title of Chief of Staff to the First Minister.

• Geoff Aberdein – May 2011 to November 2014
• Elizabeth Lloyd – January 2015 to May 2021
• Colin McAllister – August 2021 to present

Please note, nobody held the title of Chief of Staff to the First Minister prior to May 2011.

The answer to: "General duties, roles and responsibilities of the Chief of Staff to the First Minister."

Some of the information you have requested is available from Special advisers - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) / [ARCHIVED CONTENT] Special advisers - gov.scot (nrscotland.gov.uk). 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.

The answer to: "Engagements of the Chief of Staff within the Scottish Government, office of the First Minister (government department) and/or internationally outside Scotland."

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 as we do not hold or collect information on the Chief of Staff’s engagements.

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.