Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI) queries: FOI Review

Information requested

Original Request - 202500468707

1. Staffing Structure:

• The number of individuals employed or contracted by the Inquiry as of the latest available date.
• A breakdown of staff numbers by role/function (e.g. legal counsel, investigators, statement- takers, administrative, communications, etc.)

2. Remuneration:

• The total amount paid to a specific member of staff from 2015 to the present, including salary, consultancy or contract fees, and any other payments or benefits.
• The total amount paid to another specific member of staff, whether as an employee or self- employed contractor, from 2017 to the present.

3. Contractual Status:

• ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Confirmation of the contractual or employment status of named members of staff.

4. Statement-Taking Expenditure:

• ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​The total annual cost of the Inquiry’s statement-taking operations from 2017 to present, including staffing, travel, transcription, and support services.

Response

I have completed the review and concluded that a new decision should be substituted.

1. Staffing Structure:

• The number of individuals employed or contracted by the Inquiry as of the latest available date.
• A breakdown of staff numbers by role/function (e.g. legal counsel, investigators, statement- takers, administrative, communications, etc.)

​​​​​​​2. Remuneration:

• The total amount paid to a specific member of staff from 2015 to the present, including salary, consultancy or contract fees, and any other payments or benefits.

3.The total amount paid to another specific member of staff, whether as an employee or self- employed contractor, from 2017 to the present​​​​​​​Contractual Status:

• ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Confirmation of the contractual or employment status of named members of staff.

4. Statement-Taking Expenditure:

• ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​The total annual cost of the Inquiry’s statement-taking operations from 2017 to present, including staffing, travel, transcription, and support services.

Response

I have concluded that the exemption applied in our initial response, section 37 (court records, etc.) does not apply to any of the information that you have requested. I apologise that our initial response was not clear as to what information was not held by the Scottish Government, although I am satisfied that that is the case in relation to part of your request.

​​​​​​​I have provided responses to each of your questions below, being clear where I am providing information, where information is exempt and where information is not held.

1. Staffing Structure: ​​​​​​​

• The number of individuals employed or contracted by the Inquiry as of the latest available date.
• A breakdown of staff numbers by role/function (e.g. legal counsel, investigators, statement- takers, administrative, communications, etc.).

Response – A breakdown of the 113 individuals currently listed as being employed or contracted by the Inquiry as of 22nd July 2025 can be seen below:

Role/function	No. of staff
Business Support & Administration	21
Clinical	1
Communications	1
Legal Counsel & Paralegals	26
Operations	7
Publication	10
Records Management	11
Research & Analysis	13
Statement Taker	15
Unspecified	6
Witness Support	2
Total	113

2. Remuneration:

• The total amount paid to a specific member of staff from 2015 to the present, including salary, consultancy or contract fees, and any other payments or benefits.
• The total amount paid to another specific member of staff, whether as an employee or self- employed contractor, from 2017 to the present.

Response – This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. Financial information is held by the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry itself, which is exempt under the Inquiries Act 2005, rather than the Scottish Government.

​​​​​​​3. Contractual Status:​​​​​​​

• Confirmation of the contractual or employment status of named members of staff.

​​​​​​​Response – An exemption under section(s) 38(1)b of FOISA (personal information) applies as the individuals’ employment statuses and remuneration are the personal data of a third party. Disclosing this information would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exemption is not subject to the ‘public interest test’, so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.

​​​​​​​4. Statement-Taking Expenditure:

• The total annual cost of the Inquiry’s statement-taking operations from 2017 to present, including staffing, travel, transcription, and support services.

​​​​​​​Response – This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. However, the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry routinely publishes its overall financial information online. You can access this information from https://www.childabuseinquiry.scot/cost-inquiry.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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