Scottish Public Pensions Agency disability staff network: FOI release

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


Information requested

1. a) Do you have a disability staff network?
b) If so:

  • How long has it been running?
  • The grade of the chair and deputy chair?
  • Does the network use storytelling as part of its communication strategy?

2. The number of members of staff who have provided information about their disability to HR broken down by :

  • Year since 2010
  • Grade / Seniority
  • Location

3. Sickness absence as a result of disability or mental health issue logged by the department broken down by:

  • Year since 2010
  • Grade / Seniority
  • Location

4. Return to work rates following disability or mental health related sickness logged by the department broken down by:

  • Year since 2010
  • Grade / Seniority
  • Location

5. Costs (i.e. sick leave payments, salary loss, costs of replacements, adjustment costs, occupation health referrals etc.) relating to disability and mental health related illness broken down by:

  • Year since 2010
  • Grade / Seniority
  • Location

Response

1a. The Scottish Government has a Disabled Staff Network that brings together disabled staff from across Scottish Government, including from its agencies and non-ministerial government departments. The SPPA does not have a separate network.

b.i. Not known
ii. The Chair of Scottish Government’s Disabled Staff Network (DSN) is B-grade. The Chair of the DSN identifies as a disabled person and carries out their Chair duties alongside their day job as a civil servant in a non-disability related policy area. The DSN does not currently have a deputy or vice chair.
iii. The DSN does not currently have a communications strategy.

In respect of your other requests, while our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide the rest of the information you have requested because an exemption under section 17 of the FOISA applies to that information as the information is not held. We do not hold this information in the SPPA because our staff are on Scottish Government Main terms and conditions, and our HR function is provided by the Scottish Government as a shared service.

In response to your request we asked Scottish Government HR if they could provide this information to us for this reply, but they have advised us that they redact personal data for any group of people smaller than 5 in order to protect staff anonymity and comply with Data Protection requirements. Please see further information attached against each element of the request you made. Where it has not been possible to provide the information, you will see a * indicating that the number of people is less than 5 and therefore cannot be disclosed.

Finally, we don’t hold or calculate costs of sickness absence.

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.

FOI202100215126 - Information released

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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