Scottish Government workforce numbers and salary information: FOI release

Information requested

Please provide the following information, by year, from the 2015-16 financial year to present, in spreadsheet format:

1. Total number* of Scottish Government employees.

2. Total number of Scottish Government employees under each Director-General.

3. Total number of Scottish Government employees in each Directorate.

4. (1), (2), and (3) broken down by grade.

5. Mean, median, and 90th percentile annual salary for each Scottish Government employee grade.

6. Mean, median, and 90th percentile cost of employment* for each Scottish Government employee grade.

*Headcount and Whole-Time Equivalent/Full-Time Equivalent.
*Salary, national insurance employer contributions, pension contributions, and other such per-employee costs, if any.

Response

I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested in the format you asked for (see attached).

Data is provided for each financial year as at March of the year requested. In relation to points 5 and 6 of your request, we have provided the average salary information and average total employment costs for each year, as at March of the relevant financial year. In line with Cabinet Office guidance, as set out in the Government Financial Reporting Manual, for grades with small numbers of staff we have applied the normal convention for reporting the personal salary information of officials by providing the information in £5k salary bands. This is consistent with how this information is published in our annual report and accounts, and in the annual publication on our website of Senior Civil Service salary information.

Additionally, in relation to point 5, we have provided a snapshot of average salary information as at December 2024. In relation to point 6, it is not possible to provide accurate or complete information on total employment costs for the full financial year, as at December 2024 given that there were still three months of the 2024-25 financial year remaining. Information on total employment costs for 2024-25 will be published in our next annual report and accounts later this year.

In relation to the information provided as at December 2024, it should be noted that due to a change in policy relating to temporary promotion and the implementation Oracle Cloud in October 2024, there was a change to how we recorded temporary promotion data. The result of this change means the data shows an increase in the number of people operating in more senior roles, albeit in a temporary capacity.

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.

FOI 202500456104 - Information released - Annex

File type

Excel document

File size

148.4 kB