First Minister ministerial salary: FOI release

Information requested

You asked for:

1. The total gross ministerial salary paid to the First Minister of Scotland for the months of April 2025 and May 2025, including:

• The amount paid,
• The pay rate applied (i.e. whether the salary was frozen at 2008-09 levels or included any uplift),
• Any adjustments or deductions made in either month, including backdated corrections.

2. The date on which payroll changes were applied to freeze or unfreeze the First Minister’s ministerial salary in 2025.

3. Confirmation of whether the First Minister received an uplifted ministerial salary in April 2025, and whether any repayment or deduction was made in May 2025 to reflect a pay freeze backdated to April.

Response

In response to request 1, Ministerial pay is set and paid by the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government has no role in this. The Scottish Government does not hold information in relation to the amount of salary paid to the First Minister in April and May 2025 but I can confirm that the First Minister's entire salary in these months was frozen at 2008-09 levels as the pay freeze on the First Minister's pay has not been uplifted for either the MSP element or the Ministerial element of his pay. As far as the Scottish Government is aware, no adjustments were made in either month in relation to the pay freeze and no backdated corrections were required. This is a formal notice under section 17 of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not hold the information requested. You may wish to contact the Scottish Parliament's Pay and Pensions Team who may be able to help you.

In response to request 2, as noted above, Ministerial pay is set and paid by the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government has no role in this. The Scottish Government does not hold any payroll information in relation to the First Minister's Ministerial salary but I can confirm that the First Minister's salary remains frozen at 2008-09 levels and there has been no change to this position. This is a formal notice under section 17 of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not hold the information requested. You may wish to contact the Scottish Parliament's Pay and Pensions Team who may be able to help you.

In response to request 3, I can confirm that the First Minister did not receive any salary uplift in April 2025 and there was therefore no need for any adjustments to be made in May 2025.

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.