Adult Disability Payment independent review: FOI release

Information requested

“The Scottish Government has published an independent review of Adult Disability Payment.

1. The report states there are five Scottish Government staff members listed as working as the secretariat for this report.

Who were the members of the secretariat and how much has the Scottish Government spent on salary costs for the secretariat members over the course of creating the report?

2. How long has the investigation and report taken to prepare and publish? That is, can you provide a start date for the expert group beginning work?

3. What is the total cost of the work undertaken - including the interim and final reports?”

Response

In response to your first question, while our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because an exemption under section 38(1)(b) personal information of FOISA applies.

Information relating to the exact salary of each individual involved in this work is considered  personal information under section 38(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and  disclosing it 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.

During the period of the Review one C band and four B band members of staff from the Scottish Government worked as part of the secretariat. Not all of those individuals were employed full-time on the Review, and not all of them worked on the Review until it’s conclusion. Pay scales for staff  are published and can be found here: Financial rewards - Scottish Government Jobs

In response to your second question, the Chair of the Independent Review began work in February 2024. An Advisory Group was appointed in April 2024 to support the Chair in her work. An interim  report was published on 29 November 2024 and preparation for the final report began in December 2024, before publication on 31 July 2025.

In response to your third question, the total cost of the work including interim and final reports was £128,068.30.

About FOI

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