Press officers and special advisors: FOI release

Information requested

1. How many press officers and special advisers are currently (date of this FOI) employed by the Scottish Government? Breakdown of both categories.

2. How many of both categories were employed in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021?

3. How many special advisers does Nicola Sturgeon have? How many does each minister have? How much are they paid/what are their salary bands?

4. How many special advisers did Nicola Sturgeon have in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021?

5. How much is spent on both press officers and special advisers each year from 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022? Breakdown of both categories.

6. What is budgeted each year for press officers and special advisers from 2018 to 2023 and beyond if you have figures?

7. What is the salary band for the most senior press officer and senior special adviser and the salary band for the most junior in each category?

Response

Response to Questions 1,2,5,6 & 7 in relation to Press Officers:

1. Press Officers:
The roles of government communications professionals undertaking traditional ‘press officer’ tasks have changed over the last decade, for example with the adoption of additional skills such as video and other social media content creation, in addition to media relations work.

Numbers of FTE staff vary throughout the financial year and the figure below represent staff numbers on just one day of the year (September 30). This means the figure is a 'snapshot': it does not represent either a total number or average number of staff employed in the year.

The number of FTE front line communications/ press officers is set out in the table below:

Year	FTE
2022	56.7

* FTE figures are a snapshot from 30 September 2022. System data is extracted from the end of each month, so we have provided the figure for the end of the month (30 September) just preceding that of your request.

2. Press Officers:
Numbers of frontline communications staff/press officers from 2018-2021 have been previously published and can be found at the links below.

Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy. As noted above, numbers of FTE staff vary throughout the financial year and the figures published at the links below represent staff numbers on just one day of each year. 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.

• 2018 and 2019 – Scottish Government - communications and public relations staff numbers and costs: FOI release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
• 2020 – Press Officers: FOI release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
• 2021 – Number of full time equivalent (FTE) frontline media roles: FOI release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

5. Press Officers:
The cost of front line communications staff / press officers from 2006 – 2022 is published online:
Communications staff (press officers): costs - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

6. Press Officers:
There is no specific budget pre-allocated for these roles, these form part of the overall annual Communications & Ministerial Support Directorate staffing budget.

7. Press Officers:
Pay ranges for 2022 for most junior and senior press officer are available below. From 1 April 2022, the following pay ranges apply:
Scottish Government Main

	B2	C3
Max-3	33,120
Max-2	34,725	79,360
Max-1	36,330	80,255
Max	37,936	80,434

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

Response to Questions 1-7 in relation to Special Advisors:​​​​​​​

Response to Question 2, 4, and 5 (partial) in relation to Special Advisers:
Some of the information you have requested (e.g. previous numbers, costs, salary bands) is available on the Scottish Parliament website:
​​​​​​​
S5W-26805 | Scottish Parliament Website
Written question and answer: S5W-36009 | Scottish Parliament Website
Written question and answer: S6W-00255 | Scottish Parliament Website

Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

The table below provides additional information in relation to the numbers and cost of special advisors for each of the financial years requested (e.g. Questions 2 and 5).

Numbers of special advisors vary throughout the financial year and the figures published at the links above represent numbers on just one day of each year. This means that these figures are a 'snapshot': they do not represent either a total number or average number of special advisors employed in the financial year.

Year	Number of SpAds as at 31st December	The total cost of SpAds[1]
2018 - 19	14	£1,049,536
2019 - 20	14	£1,305,923
2020 - 21	14	£1,658,757
2021 - 22	17	£1,605,621

Please note that Special Advisers are appointed in accordance with Part 1 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 by the First Minister as a Special Adviser for the purpose of providing assistance to the Scottish Ministers. They are not necessarily assigned to specific Ministers or the First Minister but instead hold various different responsibilities as noted in the listed previous publications.

Response to Question 1, 3, 5 (partial) and 7 in relation to Special Advisers:
An exemption under section 27(1) of FOISA applies to the information requested in Question 1 and Question 3 as well as to the total cost of special advisors for the year 2022 as requested in Question 5. The exemption also applies to the information requested in Question 7, however the previously published information linked in the response contains information on previous years pay bands. This exemption applies because we intend to publish that information within 12 weeks of the date of
your request. We consider that it is reasonable to withhold the information until that date, rather than release this routinely published information before the planned publication date. This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. We recognise that there is some public interest in release and this will be met by our planned publication. In the meantime, there is a greater public interest in taking the time necessary to ensure the information has been properly collated and checked before it is published as planned. Also, we see no public interest in disrupting our programme of work to release the information ahead of the intended publication date.

6. Special Advisors:
There is no specific budget pre-allocated for these roles, these form part of the overall annual Communications & Ministerial Support Directorate staffing budget.

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.