People employed by the Scottish Government as Special Advisors: FOI release
- Published
- 14 November 2023
- Directorate
- People Directorate
- Topic
- Public sector
- FOI reference
- 202300343171
- Date received
- 13 February 2023
- Date responded
- 9 March 2023
Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
Information requested
Please could you tell me how many people have been employed by the Scottish Government as Special Advisors over the last ten years. Please could you provide this as a total number for each financial year beginning in 2013-14 to present. Could you also provide the total cost each year for the salaries of that group of employees.
Response
Number of Special Advisers in core Scottish Government, with the total cost of salaries.
Table 1.
|
Financial year end |
Headcount |
FTE |
Sum of FTE salaries |
|
31/03/2014 |
14 |
14 |
£779,011 |
|
31/03/2015 |
11 |
11 |
£617,761 |
|
31/03/2016 |
*5 |
4.9 |
£267,364 |
|
31/03/2017 |
13 |
12.9 |
£720,005 |
|
31/03/2018 |
14 |
14 |
£800,244 |
|
31/03/2019 |
14 |
14 |
£904,268 |
| 31/03/2020 |
15 |
15 |
£1,011,672 |
| 31/03/2021 | **9 | 9 | £626,835 |
| 31/03/2022 |
17 |
17 |
£1,228,215 |
| Grand Total | £6,955,375 |
*(election year - average for the full year was 13 headcount and 13.45 FTE)
** (election year - average for the full year was 14 headcount and FTE)
The figures above represent a snapshot as at 31 March each year. You should note that Scottish Parliamentary elections were held in 2016 and 2021. The contractual employment position of Special Advisers means that those who wish to work directly on the election campaign must resign from their position as Special Advisers. The lower numbers on 31 Mar 3016 and 31 Mar 2021 reflects this.
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.
Contact
Please quote the FOI reference
Central Enquiry Unit
Email: ceu@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000
The Scottish Government
St Andrews House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG
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