Staff hired by Social Security Scotland by department: FOI release

Information requested

From 18 March 2020 to present:
Part 1: The number of staff hired by Social Security Scotland.
Part 2: The department that they were recruited into.
Part 3: The number of staff that Social Security Scotland had expected to hire during the same period if that is different.

Response

Part 1: The number of staff hired by Social Security Scotland.

We have interpreted ‘hired’ as meaning a contract for direct employment starting within the dates you have specified. Since the 18 March 2020, Social Security Scotland has recruited 202 permanent employees.

Part 2: The department that they were recruited into.
The majority (151) have been recruited into our Operations Division. The remainder have been recruited into our Finance and Corporate Services (16) and Strategy and Client Experience (35) Divisions.

Part 3: The number of staff that Social Security Scotland had expected to hire during the same period if that is different.
Between the dates you have specified Social Security Scotland was aware that our recruitment activity would be severely curtailed by Covid-19. As a result our plans between the specified dates matched our actual recruitment.

Prior to the dates you have specified, our plan was for Social Security Scotland to recruit more permanent employees to support our service and planned benefit launches. Our resourcing plans are designed to align to business need and flex with changing circumstances. Social Security Scotland’s recruitment activity in the period specified met the current business requirement and the Agency is working with Scottish Government People Directorate in relation to future planning.

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.