Equality outcomes and mainstreaming report 2019

Annex B: Breakdown of Pay Groups

Scottish Government Main (SGM) & SCS

Core Directorates of the Scottish Government falling within the responsibility of:

• Permanent Secretary;
• Directorate General - Constitution & External Affairs;
• Directorate General - Economy;
• Directorate General - Education, Communities & Justice;
• Directorate General - Health & Social Care;
• Directorate General - Organisational Development & Operations; and
• Directorate General - Exchequer.

Agencies and Non-Ministerial Offices:

• Accountant in Bankruptcy;
• Disclosure Scotland;
• Education Scotland;
• Scottish Public Pensions Agency;
• Student Awards Agency for Scotland;
• Transport Scotland;
• National Records of Scotland;
• Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator;
• Scottish Housing Regulator;
• Revenue Scotland;
• Food Standards Scotland;
• Scottish Fiscal Commission; and
• Community Justice Scotland

Staff serving elsewhere on assignment, loan or secondment are regarded as being part of SGM except where provision has been agreed for other terms and conditions to apply.

Scottish Government Marine (SGMARINE)

• Officers and crew of Fishery Protection Vessels;
• Officers and crew of Fishery Research Vessels; and
• Marine, Engineer and Safety Superintendents.

Scottish Government Main - description of pay bands

A3

The role of posts in this range is to offer technical, specialist or advanced administrative support under the supervision of and in support of a more senior officer. Duties usually call for the exercise of discretion and initiative whilst carrying out generally routine and repetitive tasks and will often involve the use of IT based skills. Although not a management level for most posts, in some operational areas there may be supervision of staff, which can include annual reporting and career development.

Posts at this level tend to report to a post in Band B but may report to a more senior post in Band A.

A4

Supervision of staff in other Band A ranges may be an important feature of posts in this range. This will include allocation of tasks and checking of work. In some cases there may be a full staff management role, including annual reporting and career development. Posts may also be akin to an 'executive assistant', combining administrative support to officers in the Senior Civil Service with some executive functions. Posts within this range will require a degree of judgement and interpretative ability to be exercised within guidelines and established practice. Posts in this range are likely to report to a post in the upper ranges of Band B, or in Band C, or in some cases direct to a member of the Senior Civil Service.

B1

Jobs in this pay range will often be the first formal line management level including staff management (and covering staff appraisals). In some areas these posts may provide direct support to other more senior posts. Elsewhere they may be responsible for a discrete area or work under the control and direction of a more senior officer. Typically posts within this range will require postholders to exercise judgement and interpretative ability where practice and precedence guide the work.

Some posts require a good understanding of the basic principles and practices of a subject or discipline/specialism through a mix of qualifications or training and experience.

B2

Posts in this range are expected to have a good knowledge and understanding of their area of work or subject and to exercise sound judgement and interpretative ability in the application of regulations, practice and procedures or professional standards. They may have delegated responsibility for elements of work, where they are required to keep fully up-to-date with developments and suggest responses and solutions to posts in Band C or the Senior Civil Service. They will usually report to a Head of Branch and will have freedom of action in managerial and operational matters within accepted standards and precedents.

Management responsibilities will vary. Where there are very large numbers in the command, posts are usually assisted by staff from the lowest range in Band B or from Band A. Posts without any managerial responsibility are often the working level in a professional or specialist function or operate in a structure where support staff are managed centrally.

B3

Jobs in this range are usually responsible for a discrete area of work, which may cover more than one function, and are fully accountable for the achievement of objectives and targets within their responsibilities. Posts require considerable knowledge and full understanding of their area of work or subject, demonstrate the ability to develop and adapt existing procedures and have the acumen to resolve a variety of problems. Posts will report to a member of Band C, or possibly the Senior Civil Service.

Management responsibilities vary depending on the nature of the work; this ranges from heading up a discrete section or team to managing a larger executive area where the work and operational decisions are more routine.

C1

Posts within this range are expected to be able to function independently and take full responsibility for the work of their section or branch. They have an important role in policy areas to keep fully up-to-date with all salient developments concerning the policies they manage, for example, in Whitehall and Europe, and to produce and broker solutions for submission to senior staff and Ministers. Professional staff must also keep up-to-date in their particular fields in order to maintain their level of expertise and its applicability in the Office. Posts at this level must be able to see ways to adapt precedents/principles and to work with some complex ideas.

The managers of these posts are normally members of the Senior Civil Service, or sometimes the top range of Band C.

The size of the management task for these posts will vary, depending on the nature of the work; this ranges from small teams in which each member has set, delegated tasks, to larger professional advisory or executive areas. In each case, these postholders will normally take all staff management decisions for their areas, without reference above. In executive areas, most operational decisions will also be contained at, or beneath, this level.

C2

Posts at this level are used most often in a supporting role to Senior Civil Service managers or are responsible for managing blocks of work, for example, in executive, casework areas. These posts will usually have managerial responsibilities either for small units or for branches/teams where the main working level will be in Band B or the first range of Band C - such as in some professional areas - or will manage significant numbers of staff in executive areas. Exceptionally, they may also lead small policy branches that have heavy and continually high profile policy and legislative demands.

Posts will have significant responsibility for maintaining areas of specialist or policy activity and may be involved in the development of new policy, in complex or novel areas, where considerable innovative thought is required. In professional areas, they may proactively ensure that relevant specialist issues are not overlooked, will contribute to the making of new policy, or its evolution, and may input to high level casework. In all cases, line management guidance is likely to be infrequent and requires to be actively sought.

C3

Posts at this level are usually responsible for managing discrete and clearly defined blocks of work capable of separate control, and may be regarded ostensibly as Division Heads. Generally these posts are held accountable for the use of financial and staff resources relating to their commands which, taken together and in combination with the other factors, tend to mark them out as demanding a perceptibly higher level than the most senior posts in the other ranges of Band C.

Specific knowledge and skills may well be required of these posts, requiring qualifications and experience in a formal discipline in addition to administrative experience. The incumbents may act as the senior managers in a professional group where they will normally also carry significant operational autonomy for a clearly identified section of the remit.

Senior Civil Service (SCS)

Deputy Director 1 and 1A

These posts normally report to a Director and are responsible for the development and implementation of strategy, leading the government's engagement with stakeholders, operational delivery and the leadership and management of a Divisional team. The majority of Deputy Director roles have responsibility for direct running costs and programme budgets and they will be a member of the Directorate senior management team.

Director

These posts normally report to a Director General. They are senior leaders in their work within portfolios and collectively in setting, communicating and implementing organisational strategy and managing key relationships and networks, delivering operational results and the leadership and management of the Directorate team.

Director General

These posts report directly to the Permanent Secretary and are the Scottish Government's principal policy advisers. They provide support to Cabinet Secretaries and other Ministers, drive delivery and build strategic relationships with partners and stakeholders. The postholders play a leading and collegiate role as part of the Executive Team and Strategic Board in ensuring that Scottish Government resources are deployed effectively in support of the business strategy and key outcomes and to develop its capacity and performance.

Permanent Secretary

This is the senior Civil Servant in Scotland and leads the civil servants working for the Scottish Government, supporting the Government in developing, implementing and communicating its policies. The postholder is the principal policy adviser to the First Minister and Secretary to the Cabinet. They are also the Principal Accountable Officer for the Scottish Government with personal responsibility for the propriety and regularity of Government finance and for economic, efficient and effective use of all related resources.