Number of employees with a criminal record: FOI release

Information requested

Information about employees with a criminal record.

Response

For any person requiring access to our sites and information, a minimum level of security clearance is required. The minimum level of clearance for all Scottish Government employees is Baseline Personnel Security Standards (BPSS) which includes a criminal record check (CRC). The Civil Service Code, as set out in the terms and conditions of appointment, and the Scottish Government's employment policies including standards of behaviour and propriety, makes clear that staff are expected to notify the employer where they are charged with or convicted of a criminal offence. Where appropriate, action can then be considered in line with the Scottish Government’s disciplinary policy, including in relation to suspension and/or dismissal. Traffic offences for which the penalty isn't imprisonment or disqualification do not need to be reported.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, under section 12 of FOISA public authorities are not required to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying would exceed the upper cost limit, which is currently set at £600 by Regulations made under section 12. In this instance the costs of locating, retrieving and providing the information requested would exceed the upper cost limit of £600. Whilst BPSS does include a CRC for clearance, there is however no central record kept by HR or our IT department that enables us to easily establish the number of employees with a criminal record. Instead, to identify the information that you have requested, we would need to review a large number of records to establish which cases fell within the scope of your request.

You will wish to note that the information provided above relates to the arrangements that apply in the HR team responsible for the core Director-General areas within the Scottish Government (see Annex A for details). HR teams covering other areas may operate different arrangements.

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 202400427904 - Information Released - Annex A

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