Scottish Government employment of Policy Managers: FOI release

Information requested

By financial year, from 2015 to present:

1. (Question 1) Total expense by the Scottish Government on employing Policy Managers. Please list exact job titles you include. Please break this down by:
a. Wage bill
b. Employer taxes
c. Pension contributions
d. Severance/voluntary redundancy payments
e. Perks
f. Other (if applicable. Please break this down further by any significant sub-categories if these are stored).

2. (Question 2) Total expense by the Scottish Government on employing Policy Officers. Please break this down by the same categories as specified in (1).

3. (Question 3) Average wage of Scottish Government-employed Policy Managers, both actual and full time equivalent.

4. (Question 4) Average wage of Scottish Government-employed Policy Officers, both actual and full time equivalent.

Response

In relation to all questions, Scottish Government only holds information on job titles from the 2017-2018 Financial Year onwards. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested.

Information relates to Scottish Government Core Directorates only.

Question 1

Job titles which have been interpreted as falling under the scope of 'Policy Manager' have been attached in Annex A: job titles due to the volume of job titles in scope.

We have interpreted 'perks' as employee recognition reward mechanisms, which are commonly understood to be employee 'perks'. The table is broken down by wage costs, employer nationalinsurance contributions, and pension contributions. The cost of severance/ voluntary redundancy payments, and other 'perks', was nil.

(£)	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	April 2024 to September 2024
Pension Contributions	1,528,000	1,914,976	2,787,952	3,304,496	4,312,818	5,047,116	5,893,135	3,442,161
Employer National Insurance	820,210	1,003,260	1,112,014	1,341,750	1,739,456	2,107,205	2,378,990	1,330,824
Wage Costs	7,580,007	9,323,043	10,446,853	12,444,302	16,089,071	18,498,302	21,481,472	11,854,617
Total Expense	9,928,218	12,241,279	14,346,819	17,090,548	22,141,344	25,652,623	29,753,597	16,627,602

Question 2

Job titles which have been interpreted as falling under the scope of 'Policy Officer' have been attached in Annex A: job titles due to the volume of job titles in scope.

We have interpreted 'perks' as employee recognition reward mechanisms, which are commonly understood to be employee 'perks'. The table is broken down by wage costs, employer national insurance contributions, and pension contributions. The cost of severance/ voluntary redundancy payments, and other 'perks', was nil.

(£)	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	April 2024 to September 2024
Pension Contributions	3,074,345	3,486,089	5,491,929	6,418,446	7,441,865	8,538,731	8,839,115	5,103,730
Employer National Insurance	1,506,137	1,695,115	2,059,406	2,440,847	2,846,402	3,453,746	3,472,609	1,902,859
Wage Costs	14,955,854	16,994,165	20,590,703	24,114,635	27,834,908	31,710,261	32,697,074	17,604,337
Total Expense	19,536,336	22,175,369	28,142,037	32,973,927	38,123,176	43,702,738	45,008,798	24,610,926

Question 3

The table below sets out the average wage of Scottish Government employed policy managers (both actual and FTE), for the same period. Please note that salary information provided reflects substantive salaries, which is then multiplied by FTE to get the actual salary. Staff identified are based on the data as at 31 March at the end of the financial year, and salaries are as at 31 March (or 30 September for the 2024-2025 Financial Year).

Total staff as at end of fifinancial year	210	257	288	339	433	441	479	499
Mean Actual Salary (£)	37,780	37,833	38,152	39,401	40,668	42,823	46,184	48,225
Mean Salary FTE (£)	39,722	40,031	40,514	41,768	42,550	44,877	48,347	50,542

Question 4

The table below sets out the average wage of Scottish Government employed policy officers (both actual and FTE), for the same period. Please note that salary information provided reflects substantive salaries, which is then multiplied by FTE to get the actual salary. Staff identified are based on the data as at 31 March at the end of the financial year, and salaries are as at 31 March (or 30 September for the 2024-2025 Financial Year).

Total staff as at end of fifinancial year	514	640	700	790	893	903	850	866
Mean Actual Salary	30,996	31,291	32,328	33,117	34,302	36,523	39,454	41523.54
Mean Salary FTE	32,496	32,621	33,626	34,410	35,511	37,916	41,161	43244.57

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FOI 202400443951 - Information Released - Annex A

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