Public sector pay and work contract changes: FOI release

Information requested

1. A breakdown of all public sector pay changes negotiated and agreed to by the Scottish Government, and all public sector work contract changes (e.g. reduction in full time hours) negotiated and agreed to by the Scottish Government.

2. For all elements within (1), the increase in annual expense occurred from that pay or work contract change.

Response

You asked for all pay changes negotiated and agreed by the Scottish Government and as such this would only be the Scottish Government’s own pay deals for its staff (SG Main and SG Marine). SG representatives also negotiate with NHS Staff and Unions to agree a pay deal, and sit on the SNCT for negotiating Teachers Pay. All other pay deals are negotiated between individual public bodies and their staff representatives.

Due to the subject heading “2024 Pay Rises” we have interpreted your request as focusing on pay awards implemented in the 2024-25 pay round, and have included relevant data below.

SG Main Pay

For the 2024-25 pay round, we were in year 2 of the 2023-25 pay award for SG Main Bargaining Unit and SG Marine. No changes were negotiated in 2024, however the changes that came in to effect for 2024-25 are noted below.

2024-25

With effect from 1 April 2024:

• pay steps in pay ranges A3 and A4 will increase by £1,500 which delivers increases of between 5% and 6.3% to those pay steps;
• pay steps in pay ranges B1 to C3 will increase by 2%
• the B1 range shortens with the removal of the Max-3 pay step (see paragraph 15 below);
• staff in Bands A, B, and C who are below their maximum will progress, by one pay step, towards the pay range maximum (see paragraphs 18 and 19 below); and
• a number of fixed rate pay allowances will increase by 3% (see Annex C);

With effect from 1 January 2025:

• all pay steps in pay ranges B1 to C3 will increase by a further 1% (based on 31 March 2024 salary values) so that in total a 3% increase is applied to these pay steps as a result of the 2024-25 pay settlement.

SG Marine Pay

2024-25

With effect from 1 April 2024:

• all pay steps will increase by 2%;
• staff who are below the maximum of their pay range will progress towards their pay range maximum by one step, subject to the usual eligibility criteria; and
• The call back allowance is due to be reviewed after a year of operation, i.e. at the end of 2023. The allowance will be increased to be in line with the pay range minima effective from 1 April 2023.

With effect from 1 January 2025:

• all pay steps will increase by a further 1% (based on 31 March 2024 pay step values) so that in total a 3% increase is applied as a result of the 2024-25 pay settlement.

Where Public Sector Pay Strategy (PSPS) for 2024-25 sets out a basic award pay metric that is above 4%, discussions will take place on the pay award for 2024-25, with the outcome that the value of the pay award for SG Marine for 2024-25 will be increased by the amount between 4% and the published pay metric with effect from 1 January 2025. For example, if the published pay award metric was 5%, an additional 1% consolidated would be applied with effect from 1 January 2025 to the 2024-25 pay award for SG Marine. If PSPS sets a basic award metric of 4% or less, the SG Marine pay award will not increase or decrease and will remain as set out above.

NHS

• Agenda for Change staff received a total investment of £448 million in their pay and reward package. This saw a 5.5% uplift across all pay points.
• Resident Doctors received a £64.1 million investment in their pay and reward package. This saw an 8.5% pay uplift from 01 April 2024, with a further 2.3% pay uplift from 01 October 2024. Due to the phased implementation this generates a cumulative uplift of 11% during 2024/25 financial year.
• Consultants received a total investment £124.9 million in their pay and reward package. This saw an uplift of 10.5% across all consultants pay points with a further £5.7 million invested to uplift Discretionary Points from £3204 to £3600 per point.

Teachers

• Teachers received a pay award of 4.27%.

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 are still in the financial year that the costs are being incurred, "the increase in annual expense occurred" will not be known until the conclusion of the year.

About FOI

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