Education Scotland - Scrutiny Directorate workforce data: FOI release

Information requested

Please provide the following data regarding the contract status and promotional structure within the Scrutiny Directorate (the Inspectorate) for the current financial year (2025/26) and the previous two financial years (2023/24 and 2024/25).

Response

1. For all staff within the Scrutiny Directorate, please provide a headcount and FTE (Full-Time Equivalent) split by:

- Permanent contracts.
- Fixed-term / Temporary contracts (including those on specific project-based contracts).
- Secondments (staff seconded into the Inspectorate from local authorities or other agencies).

	Permanent		FTC		Secondees
Year	FTE	HC	FTE	HC	FTE	HC
2023/24 as at end March 2024	102.2	109	[redacted]	[redacted]	[redacted]	[redacted]
2024/25 as at end March 2025	117.6	123	8.0	8	6.0	6
2025/26 as at end January 2026	114.0	120	11.0	11	10.0	10

2. The total number of staff within the Scrutiny Directorate currently on temporary promotion to a higher grade.

A breakdown of these temporary promotions by grade (e.g., HMI to Senior HMI, or Administrator to Team Leader).

The number of staff who have been on a temporary promotion for longer than 12 months continuously.

Substantive grade	TP Grade	Number
A3	B1	[redacted]
A3	B2	[redacted]
B1	B3	[redacted]
B3	C1	[redacted]
C1	C2	[redacted]
C2	C3	7
C3	SCS	[redacted]

There are eleven staff who have been on temporary promotion for longer than twelve months.

3. How many of the roles currently filled by staff on "temporary promotion" are currently being advertised for permanent recruitment?

At present no roles are being advertised for permanent recruitment until the outcome of organisational reform is confirmed.

4. The total cost to the Inspectorate for the same years as stated above for;

- Secondments
- Fixed Term Contracts
- Permanent Contracts
- Agency/temporary workers

Total cost	Secondees	Agency	Permanent	FTC
2023/24	£26,842	£74,878	£9,959,121	£218,087
2024/25	£526,729	£28,779	£11,162,489	£337,919
2025/26 to end January 2026	£279,465	£33,395	£10,359,296	£510,444

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 to that information. The reason why this exemption applies is explained below.

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to some of the information where the data returns a value of five or less, this has been supressed in order to ensure that individual staff cannot be identified. It would also 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.

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