Staff working on the proposed independence prospectus: FOI release

Information requested

Can I please request the following information:

The number of civil servants currently working to develop the proposed independence prospectus.

The pay grade of each staff member.

Are these civil servants paid by the taxpayer or through the SNP?

Response

At 22 December 2022, staff in the Scottish Government’s Constitutional Futures Division, who are coordinating work on the prospectus and related work, comprised of one Senior Civil Servant and 24 other officials. The grades of the 24 other officials are – 1 C3, 8 C2s, 9 C1s, 1 B3, 2 B2, 3 B1.

The work to develop the prospectus is also drawing on a range of other officials across the organisation who will contribute to varying extents as part of their wider responsibilities in supporting the Scottish Government.

I am unable to provide you with a figure for the total number of staff contributing to the prospectus because in line with usual practice, details of individual tasks carried out by civil servants, including the number of hours spent on them, are not routinely recorded because there is no business need to do this. 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.

Civil service pay comes from the Scottish Government budget. Further information on Scottish Government staff costs is available in the Scottish Budget: 2023-24 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

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.