We use cookies to collect anonymous data to help us improve your site browsing experience.

Click 'Accept all cookies' to agree to all cookies that collect anonymous data. To only allow the cookies that make the site work, click 'Use essential cookies only.' Visit 'Set cookie preferences' to control specific cookies.

Set cookie preferences

Your cookie preferences have been saved. You can change your cookie settings at any time.

Publication - FOI/EIR release

Staff numbers and pay for Scottish Government corporate communications department with duties involving health and social care: FOI release

Published
21 November 2023
Directorate
Communications and Ministerial Support Directorate
Topic
Public sector
FOI reference
202300352626
Date received
20 April 2023
Date responded
22 May 2023

Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Information requested

  1. How many staff are employed within the Scottish Government corporate communications department (or equivalent) with duties involving the health and social care portfolio?
  2. What pay banding do each of the staff members within the department with duties relating to the health and social care portfolio fall into? Please advise the minimum and maximum pay for each banding.
  3. How many vacancies are there currently within the corporate communications team (or equivalent) with duties relating to the health and social care portfolio? Which roles are these vacancies for?

Response

1. To clarify, there is no Scottish Government Corporate Communications department for Health and Social Care. However the information we have provided is for relevant Health and Social Care communications roles.

Team

Responsibilities

FTE Figure

*as of 31 March 2023

Health and Social Care 
Corporate 
Communications
team

 

 

The Corporate Communications team covers responsibilities across internal staff communication, NHS Board engagement and communications support, digital and social media, events, strategic communications and brand management across the health and social care portfolio.

9.8

 

 

 

 

 

The number of staff employed who work on communications within the Scottish Government National Care Service team in the health and social care portfolio is set out below. FTE figures are a snapshot from 31 March 2023.

Team

Responsibilities

FTE Figure

*as of 31 March 2023

National Care Service

The Social Care and National Care Service Development Directorate leads on Social Care policy with a focus on supporting people to lead independent lives in their own communities. They also lead on the development and creation of a National Care Service, a cross government priority. The NCS Communications team has a key role in facilitating direct, two-way, communications between the NCS Programme, people with lived experience of receiving and delivering social care support and key stakeholders.

This allows us to complement the co-design process in ensuring the NCS can be shaped with people at its very heart and best reflect the unique experiences of local communities.

5

You may also want to be aware that there are staff in the Communications division with duties related to health and social care. There are dedicated news and marketing teams as well as staff within the digital and strategy and insight teams who support those teams. Details are set out below.

 

Team

Responsibilities

FTE Figure

*as of 31 March 2023

Health News Team

This team explains Scottish Government policies, responds to media enquiries, supports four ministers and clinicians with media appearances and operates the @scotgovhealth twitter channel. The team also works collaboratively with communications teams from NHS Boards. The COVID-19 pandemic saw a huge increase in the need to deploy life-saving public health information and a near doubling of the volume of reactive media enquiries calls compared to pre-pandemic.

News teams communicate with the public, through traditional media relations work with broadcast and print journalists and directly via social media, to promote and explain SG policy and positions. Using clear and creative communications products, teams support the Scottish Government's priorities.

Work includes providing strategic communications advice on Programme for Government commitments and the legislative programme, forward planning of news and social media activity to help best deliver policy outcomes, supporting ministers on launches, engagements and media appearances and daily issues management such as responding to media enquiries or advising on the media handling of emerging or potential presentational issues.

10

Health Marketing Team

The team is responsible for the development and delivery of public information, direct response, brand and behaviour change activity and campaigns to help achieve critical Scottish Government health outcomes.

Impact can be achieved though paid-for-media activity such as TV, radio, digital advertising or through website creation and management as a vital product for change. National activity across Scotland runs where required and targeted campaigns to key audiences are also deployed using email marketing, social media, partnership marketing and PR.

All campaigns are evidence-led and informed by audience insight with rigorous testing of creative work in research before activation.

They are also independently evaluated.

5.6

Digital team

Has no dedicated health resource, however it does support the News team with creation of public health messages for Scottish Government digital channels.

We estimate this equates to 4

Strategy & Insight Team

Working with all communications disciplines, the Strategy and Insight Team undertakes research to understand audiences, behaviours, attitudes, motivations and barriers, to develop the most effective communications strategies and outputs.

Leading the development of insight-driven communications strategies, informed by behavioural science, the team also provides robust evaluation of communications activity and regular population- wide polling which is also used to support policy decision making and inform communications.

2.5

Numbers of FTE staff vary throughout the financial year and the figures represent staff numbers on just one day of each year, March 31. This means that these figures are a 'snapshot': they do not represent either a total number or average number of staff employed in the year.

Pay step

B1

B2

B3

C1

C2

C3

Max-3

29,102

33,520

41,642

52,355

68,540

 

Max-2

29,447

34,725

42,855

54,867

70,923

79,360

Max-1

30,440

36,330

44,888

58,849

74,002

80,255

Max

31,941

38,329

49,860

65,276

79,109

80,434

As some of these are specialist posts, they carry a professional pay supplement for the following grades:

  • B2: £2,000 per annum pro rata rising to £3,750 on completion of 12 months' successful service.
  • B3-C3: £3,000 per annum pro rata rising to £5,000 on completion of 12 months' successful service.

Pay supplements are temporary and reviewed every three years. They are paid monthly in addition to basic pay.

The number of vacancies within the Scottish Government corporate communications department (or equivalent) with duties involving the health and social care portfolio are set out in the table below.

Area

Vacancy

Health and Social Care Corporate Communications

1

National Care Service

0

Communications division teams

0

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

Back to top