Measurement of Scottish Government staff productivity and employment tribunal costs: FOI release

Information requested

1. How many requests for ministerial direction have been made in the last two years, and can you disclose what they were and whether they were accepted or rejected?

2. Could you supply the latest copy of the internal Scottish Government's working from home policy?

3. For those who work mainly from home, how is their productivity monitored? Could you give examples of this?

4. How much money has the Scottish Government spent on employment tribunals in each of the last five years, with a breakdown per year and what the money was spent on?

Response

In answering point 1, “how many requests for ministerial direction have been made in the last two years, and can you disclose what they were and whether they were accepted or rejected”. We have assumed that you are referring to the statutory duty on Accountable Officers to obtain the written authority of Ministers where they consider that any action they would be required to take would be inconsistent with their responsibilities; if this is not the case then please do let us know. We have published all Ministerial written authorities in the interests of ensuring full transparency and easy access to this information for the public. Details of all requests for a written authority and the subsequent authorities made since devolution are available via the following link:

https://www.gov.scot/collections/written-authorities-from-scottishministers/#writtenauthorities1993to2024.

Therefore, under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy. I can confirm that there have been no cases where a Written Authority has been requested but not provided in the last 2 years.

In answering point 2, “could you supply the latest copy of the internal Scottish Government's working from home policy?” I can confirm that all of this information is already available and therefore I am applying Section 25(1) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 exempting information from this response on the basis that it is already publicly available.

This has been released previously Home and hybrid working policies for Scottish Government staff: FOI release - gov.scot under the annex document.

If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

In answering point 3, “for those who work mainly from home, how is their productivity monitored? Could you give examples of this?” I can confirm we don't make a distinction in how we monitor performance of people working from home or working in the office. Essentially the performance management system and policy applies to people equally wherever they work.

In answering your last point, “how much money has the Scottish Government spent on employment tribunals in each of the last five years, with a breakdown per year and what the money was spent on?” You will wish to note that the information provided below relates to the arrangements that apply in the core Director-General areas within the Scottish Government (see Annex A for details). The following table provides information about the cost of settling employment tribunal claims over the last 5 years:

Year	Total amount
2026	£0
2025	£50,350
2024	£122,000
2023	£78,250
2022	£126,254

In relation to legal costs, while our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the costs of locating, retrieving and providing information for the last 5 years would exceed the upper cost limit of £600. Where legal advice is provided internally, Scottish Government staff do not, as a matter of course, record the proportion of time spent providing advice on particular matters. Where advice is provided externally, invoices can cover advice relating to wider aspects of a case. Each invoice would therefore need to be examined and analysed to determine the costs specifically attributable to Employment Tribunal work. You may, however, wish to consider reducing the scope of your request in order that the costs can be brought below £600. It would be for you to decide how to do this but you may also find it helpful to look at the Scottish Information Commissioner's 'Tips for requesting information under FOI and the EIRs' on his website at: http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourRights/Tipsforrequesters.aspx.

Annex A

Core Directorates of the Scottish Government:

Director-General Communities
Director-General Corporate
Director-General Economy
Director-General Education and Justice
Director-General Health and Social Care
Director-General Net Zero
Director-General Scottish Exchequer, Strategy and Performance

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.