Breakdown of Scottish Government spend on Lawyers and Business Analyst roles: FOI release

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


Information requested

By financial year, from 2015 to present:

1. (Question 1) Total expense by the Scottish Government on employing Lawyers. Please list exact job titles you include. Please break this down by:
a. Wage bill
b. Employer taxes
c. Pension contributions
d. Severance/voluntary redundancy payments
e. Perks
f. Other (if applicable. Please break this down further by any significant sub-categories if these are stored).

2. (Question 2) Total expense by the Scottish Government on employing Business Analysts.
Please break this down by the same categories as specified in (1).

3. (Question 3) Average wage of Scottish Government-employed Lawyers, both actual and full time equivalent.

4. (Question 4) Average wage of Scottish Government-employed Business Analysts, both actual and full time equivalent.

Response

In relation to all questions, Scottish Government only holds information on job titles from the 2017-2018 Financial Year onwards. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested.

Information relates to Scottish Government Core Directorates only.

Question 1

The following job titles have been interpreted as falling under the scope of 'lawyer':

Lawyer - Job titles

senior principal legal officer

solicitor

solicitor-head of branch

C1 Principal Legal Offiicer

Solicitor

Solicitor - Branch Head

Solicitor - Head of Branch 2

Solicitor Head of Branch 2

Solicitor and Head of Branch

Solicitor to the Inquiry Into Queen Elizabeth University Hospital & the Royal Hospital for Children and Young Persons

Solicitor to the Scottish Government

Solicitor to the Scottish Government and Director of SGLD

Solicitor, Head of Unit

Solicitor, branch head

Solicitor: Head of Social Care Legal Services Unit

Deputy Solicitor to the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry

Branch Head Lawyer

C2 LAWYER

C2 Lawyer

LAWYER

Lawyer

lawyer

We have interpreted 'perks' as employee recognition reward mechanisms, which are commonly understood to be employee 'perks'. The table is broken down by wage costs, employer national insurance contributions, and pension contributions. The cost of severance/ voluntary redundancy payments, and other 'perks', was nil.

(£)

2017-18

2018-19

2019-20

2020-21

2021-22

2022-23

2023-24

April 2024 to September 2024

Pension Contributions

972,316

1,189,957

1,852,362

2,407,170

2,572,039

2,977,186

3,446,397

1,855,661

Employer National Insurance

509,857

619,808

756,569

1,011,059

1,078,734

1,269,507

1,422,925

759,078

Wage Costs

4,375,826

5,380,991

6,561,842

8,644,425

9,209,946

10,311,556

11,975,278

6,310,490

Total Expense

5,857,999

7,190,756

9,170,772

12,062,655

12,860,718

14,558,249

16,844,600

8,925,229

Question 2
The following job titles have been interpreted as falling under the scope of 'Business Analyst':

Business analyst Job titles

Business Analyst

Business Analyst & Project Manager

Business Analyst (Pathways)

Business Analyst and Programme Support Officer

Business Analysts

Cloud Platform Service Business Analyst

Junior Business Analyst

Lead Business Analyst

Principal Business Analyst

Principle Business Analyst

Quality Assurance/Business Analyst

Risk and Business Analyst

SENIOR BUSINESS ANALYST

Senior Business Analyst

Senior Business Analyst (TRS)

Senior Business Analyst (benefits)

Senior Business Analyst, Social Security Programme

Social Security Directorate - Junior Business Analyst

Trainee Business Analyst

ePC Business Analyst

ePC Team Business Analyst (B1)

We have interpreted 'perks' as employee recognition reward mechanisms, which are commonly understood to be employee 'perks'. The table is broken down by wage costs, employer national insurance contributions, and pension contributions. The cost of severance/ voluntary redundancy payments, and other 'perks', was nil.

(£)

2017-18

2018-19

2019-20

2020-21

2021-22

2022-23

2023-24

April 2024 to September2024

Pension Contributions

225,566

359,111

724,213

796,618

861,601

1,059,089

1,266,739

693,608

Employer National Insurance

125,223

201,530

299,980

337,465

366,211

455,332

520,971

280,070

Wage Costs

1,153,790

1,880,288

2,764,901

3,075,837

3,283,398

3,885,269

4,594,210

2,436,160

Total Expense

1,504,580

2,440,929

3,789,094

4,209,919

4,511,210

5,399,690

6,381,920

3,409,838

Question 3
The table below sets out the average wage of Scottish Government employed lawyers (both actual and FTE), for the same period. Please note that salary information provided reflects substantive salaries, which is then multiplied by FTE to get the actual salary. Staff identified are based on the data as at 31 March at the end of the financial year, and salaries are as at 31 March (or 30 September for the 2024- 2025 Financial Year).

Total staff as at end of financial year

90

125

140

157

167

188

193

194

Mean Actual Salary (£)

51772.19

50225.03

52519.7

55552.42

56939.06

60017.66

65093.24

67757.74

Mean Salary FTE (£)

57326.46

55365.12

57637.49

60443.47

61985.54

64623.04

70285.13

72737.33

Question 4
The table below sets out the average wage of Scottish Government employed business analysts (both actual and FTE), for the same period. Please note that salary information provided reflects substantive salaries, which is then multiplied by FTE to get the actual salary. Staff identified are based on the data as at 31 March at the end of the financial year, and salaries are as at 31 March (or 30 September for the 2024-2025 Financial Year).

Total staff as at end of financial year

34

57

82

77

84

90

99

92

Mean Actual Salary (£)

36,406

36,597

37,669

38,988

40,818

42,740

46,392

48,742

Mean Salary FTE (£)

37,319

37,844

38,243

40,102

41,294

43,480

46,847

49,606

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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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