Scottish Government employee information: FOI release

Information requested

How many civil servants are employed by the Scottish Government Directorates?

How many civil servants employed by the Scottish Government Directorates are currently on a development programme for under-performance.

How many civil servants employed by the Scottish Government Directorates have been put on a development programme for under- performance in the calendar years 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.

Response

You have asked how many civil servants are employed by the Scottish Government’s Directorates. The number of Civil Servants employed by the Scottish Government is published as official statistics on a quarterly basis and is available here Scottish Government workforce information - gov.scot. The published data includes a time series of information back to March 2012. The latest data was published in December 2025 and provides information for the quarter ending on 30 September 2025.

In your request you have also asked about staff on development programmes for underperformance.

The Scottish Government’s (SG) performance management policies aim to provide all colleagues with the support they need to perform at their best and to develop professionally. A copy of the relevant policies relating to performance management for staff in Bands A-C and in the Senior Civil Service can be found under FOI/202400442201.

Where there are concerns about performance, line managers should address these on an informal basis in the first instance. The Scottish Government does not hold central records about informal performance matters managed locally by the line manager. Where concerns continue, formal processes will apply. Currently there are 6 employees subject to formal performance management arrangements.

You requested information about how many Scottish Government employees were on a performance plan between 2021 and 2025. Table 1 below sets out this information, alongside figures for employees on probation who underwent formal performance procedures during their probation period. For staff who have completed probation, the Scottish Government appraisal year runs from 1 April to 31 March, and performance management information is recorded on this basis, so the figures are presented by appraisal year. As the appraisal year for 2025/2026 has not yet completed, the data provided in the table covers the period up to 31 March 2025 only.

Appraisal Year	Number of Employees on formal performance plan	Number of Probation Employees on formal performance procedures
2021 – 2022	4	19
2022 – 2023	4	12
2023 – 2024	4	14
2024- 2025	9	4

Table 1:Number of employees on Formal Performance Plan - 2021 - 2025

Please note that the information provided above refers to staff within the core Director-General areas of the Scottish Government (see Annex A attached). Requests for information about other bodies/agencies should be sent directly to them.

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.

FOI 202600502411 - Information Released - Annex A

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