Transport Scotland recruitment, social media and equipment spend: FOI release

Information requested

1. The total amount of money spent by your organisation on overtime payments in 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25.

2. The total amount of money spent fixing/replacing broken equipment in 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25.

3. The total financial loss to your organisation on written off inventory and IT equipment in 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25.

4. The total amount of money spent on consultants by your organisation in 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25.

5. The total amount of money spent on agency staff by your organisation in 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25.

6. The total amount of money spent on recruitment agencies by your organisation in 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25.

7. The total amount of money spent on social media advertising by your organisation in 2021-22, 2022- 23, 2023-24 and 2024-25.

8. The total amount of losses and special payments recorded by your organisation in 2021-22, 2022- 23, 2023-24 and 2024-25.

9. The total amount of compensation payments made by your organisation in 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023- 24 and 2024-25.

10. The total amount of money spent on equality, diversity and inclusion staff by your organisation in 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25.

Response

1. Overtime Payments

Financial Year	Total cost (£000s)
2021-22	£191
2022-23	£216
2023-24	£235
Total	£642

2. Fixing/replacing broken equipment

While our aim is to provide information wherever possible, in this instance, the Scottish Government does not have this information you requested. This is because expenditure for “fixing/replacing broken equipment” falls within wider account codes and cannot be accurately disaggregated. Transport Scotland also benefits from warranties associated with its contracts, which can be used when equipment is broken. This is formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

3. Financial loss to your organisation on written off inventory and IT equipment

While our aim is to provide information wherever possible, in this instance, the Scottish Government does not have this information you have requested. This is because Transport Scotland uses equipment until their end-of-life, at which stage they are refreshed. Equipment that is faulty before this will be covered by their contractual warranties. This is formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

4. External Consultants

This information is available through published Annual Report and Accounts, which are available on the Transport Scotland website. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible for you.

The links to the three published accounts in question are linked below:

2023-24: Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24 page 111

2022-23: Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 | Transport Scotland page 102

2021-22: Annual Report and Accounts for the Year Ended 31 March 2021 | Transport Scotland page 81

5. Agency Staff

This information is available through published Annual Report and Accounts, which are available on the Transport Scotland website. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you.

The links to the three published accounts in question are linked below:

2023-24: Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24 page 81

2022-23: Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 | Transport Scotland page 102

2021-22: Annual Report and Accounts for the Year Ended 31 March 2021 | Transport Scotland page 111

6. Recruitment Agencies

Financial Year	Total cost (£000s)
2021-22	£4,707
2022-23	£4,904
2023-24	£5,295
Total	£14,906

7. Social Media Advertising

While our aim is to provide information wherever possible, in this instance, the Scottish Government does not have this information you requested. This is because expenditure for “social media advertising” cannot be isolated from the wider account code, meaning that we are not able to disaggregate this accurately. This is formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

8. Losses and Special Payments

This information is available through published Annual Report and Accounts, which are available on the Transport Scotland website. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you.

The links to the three published accounts in question are linked below:

2023-24: Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24 page 114

2022-23: Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 | Transport Scotland page 104

2021-22: Annual Report and Accounts for the Year Ended 31 March 2021 | Transport Scotland page 140

9. Compensation Payments

This information is available through published Annual Report and Accounts, which are available on the Transport Scotland website. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you.

The links to the three published accounts in question are linked below:

2023-24: Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24 page 105

2022-23: Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 | Transport Scotland page 97

2021-22: Annual Report and Accounts for the Year Ended 31 March 2021 | Transport Scotland page 86

10. Equality, Diversion and Inclusion Staff

I can confirm that Transport Scotland does not employ standalone equality, diversity and inclusion staff.

Information relating to the Financial Year 2024/25

An exemption under section 27(1) of FOISA applies to information relating to the Financial Year 2024-25 because we intend to publish that information in September 2025, which is within 12 weeks of your request. We consider that it is reasonable to withhold the information until that date, rather than release this 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. Additionally, the 2024-25 figures requested are still being audited and it would not be in the public interest to release these figures into the public domain until they have been finalised.

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.