Special Advisers Termination of Employment: FOI release

Information requested

Total contractual payments made (where applicable) on termination of employment for special advisers in 2024 in respect of:

• Accrued but untaken holiday pay
• unpaid wages
• Payment received instead of working a notice period, e.g. payment in lieu of notice (PILON)

Response

I enclose a copy of the information you requested.

Five special political advisors (SpAds) received termination payments as per the provisions set out in their contracts. These termination payments total £163,009.93 and relate to contractual severance pay entitlements for payment in lieu of notice (£144,843.33) and/or annual leave accrued but untaken (£18,166.60).

These payments are automatically payable by the employer on termination. Scottish Ministers are not involved in approving SpAd severance payments as they are contractual entitlements. These contractual entitlements are set out in the SpAd model contract which is published here (last updated May 2024).

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