Communications staffing within the Scottish Government: FOI release

Information requested

1. The number of press and communications staff.

2. A breakdown of these staff by job title (e.g. number of press officers, heads of press office, directors of communications, social media staff, etc).

3. The overall spend on salaries for these staff in the year 2024/25.

Response

Question 1: 

Staff in Post at 31 March 2025	FTE
Communications Division (all staff colleagues)	163.6
Staff in Post at 31 March 2025	FTE
Frontline Communications Staff / Press Officers (included within the total Communications Division staff number)	52.8

Figures are a 'snapshot', and do not represent either a total number or average number of staff employed in the year.

As well as frontline communication staff/press officers the News team includes media monitoring and visits & events staff, and the wider Communications Division includes staff responsible for strategy, marketing campaigns, digital platforms, internal engagement, and contract management. The Director of Communications and Ministerial Support is responsible for news, digital and marketing, corporate communications, ministerial and executive team support, cabinet business, protocol and honours and public engagement. The Directors headcount and costs are not included within our response, as the position is aligned to the Directorate for Communications and Ministerial Support.

Effective communication, deploying various media, social media, marketing and other activities, is essential to raise awareness of government policies, and to encourage uptake of key public services.

Press officer staffing reflects both the wide range of areas that the Scottish Government is responsible for and the 24-7 multimedia news environment it operates in and responds to, as well as the expanded role involving direct public engagement through social media content.

The number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff colleagues working wholly within the Communications Division varies throughout the financial year and the figures provided represent staff numbers on just one day i.e. 31 March 2025.

Question 2:

Communications Division is led by two Deputy Directors (SCS). The remaining Communications Division staff colleagues work within functional teams.

Individual in-use job titles are unique to most roles and whilst recognisable and helpful to internal colleagues, they are not outwardly helpful in grouping the functional activity carried out by the job holder.

We have therefore set the information requested by functional team and pay band.

Figures are a 'snapshot', and do not represent either a total number or average number of staff employed in the year.

Pay Band / Team	FTE
A
Contracts	1.0
Digital Content	2.0
B
Contracts	1.0
Digital Content	22.5
Internal Communications	15.4
Marketing & Brand	23.6
News	45.9
Strategic Communications	1.0
Strategy & Insight	5.6
C
Contracts	1.0
Digital Content	4.0
Internal Communications	4.9
Marketing & Brand	9.4
News	13.9
Strategic Communications	5.4
Strategy & Insight	5.0

Question 3:

The total cost of salaries for permanent and temporary staff colleagues that work wholly in Communications Division in the 2024-25 financial year was £13,109,617. This figure includes employer pension contributions and employer National Insurance contributions, as well as professional supplements, shift allowances and out of hours payments for frontline communications staff.

The cost for frontline communications staff (press officers), who are part of the overall Communication Division figure above, are published annually and can be found on the Scottish Government website using this link: Communications staff (press officers): costs - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

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