Severance payments paid to Scottish Government staff: FOI release
- Published
- 17 January 2025
- Directorate
- People Directorate
- Topic
- Public sector, Work and skills
- FOI reference
- FOI/202400440634
- Date received
- 13 November 2024
- Date responded
- 12 December 2024
Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
Information requested
1) Information over the names of MSPs/Ministers who have received payment of the Officeholder Resettlement Grant including information about the amount of the payment and the tax free amount for each year since and including 2017. The information should be split into individual years and should include the year to date in 2024.
2) I am further seeking information over the names of MSPs/Ministers or working officials/civil servants/ staff who have received any payment related to losing any official position, by way of a compensation or pay off for each of the years referred to above, whether that be contractual or otherwise. Can it be made clear whether the payments were contractual or otherwise.
Response
1) While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. This is because MSPs/ministers are not employed by the Scottish Government. However, you may wish to contact Scottish Parliament at foi.officer@parliament.scot who may be able to help you.
2) We have interpreted your question to mean redundancy or severance payments made to MSP/ministers or working officials/civil servants for loss of their official position.
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested in relation to MSPs/ministers. This is because MSPs/ministers are not employed by the Scottish Government. However, you may wish to contact Scottish Parliament at foi.officer@parliament.scot who may be able to help you.
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not the information you have requested in relation to redundancy payments. This is because the Scottish Government has not made any redundancy payments for the years requested.
Between 1st January 2017 and 30th June 2019 no severance payments were paid to Scottish Government staff. Some of the information you have requested for 01 July 2019 –30 June 2024 is available from The 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(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy. An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some the information you have requested. This exemption applies only to your request receive the name of each individual who received a severance payment. This exemption applies because disclosing the personal data would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5 (1) of the UK GDPR. There have been no such payments between 01 July 2024 and the current date.
All of the severance payments between 1st July 2019 and 30th June 2024 were contractual payments.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Contact
Please quote the FOI reference
Central Correspondence Unit
Email: contactus@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000
The Scottish Government
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG
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