Senior Civil Servant definition: FOI release

Information requested

1. Can I clarify what exactly the Scottish Government defines as a Senior Civil Servant? Is the following link relevant: https://www.gov.scot/publications/senior-civil-service-pay-march-2025/?

2. If so, does that mean that any Civil Servant whose name does not appear (at the time of publication) on this list, then their name would be exempt from FOI release?

Response

Response to question 1:

Pay and job grading for the Senior Civil Service (SCS) is reserved to the UK Government. The definition for SCS is described in the Civil Service management code, Section 5.

The SCS comprises of Deputy Directors (SCS1), Directors (SCS2), Director Generals (SCS3) and Permanent Secretaries (SCS4). The publication you refer to is relevant to a degree. The purpose of this publication is to be transparent about pay information for the SCS and provides a list of SCS postholders (Director level and above) as at 31st March each year. It also includes a small number of Deputy Directors who receive a salary that is commensurate with a Director. It is the salary level rather than the grade that brings them into scope to meet the intent and spirit of the transparency approach, and as such their names are not published in this particular context.

Response to question 2:

Under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), decisions about disclosing the names of civil servants are considered on a case-by-case basis and are based on data protection law and the circumstances of the request, rather than solely on whether an individual appears on the published SCS pay transparency list.

• Names of senior members of staff (including Senior Civil Servants) and officials in relatively senior, public-facing roles are normally disclosed.
• Names of more junior officials are normally withheld, as disclosing them would normally be considered “personal data” and releasing this information would be unfair and unlawful under the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR.

For this reason, the exemption in section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal data) is typically applied to withhold names of staff below Senior Civil Service level. Where appropriate, we may provide general job titles or role descriptions rather than names.

The fact that someone’s name does not appear on our SCS pay transparency list does not, by itself, determine whether their name can be released. Instead, the decision is based on factors such as:

• the individual’s grade, seniority, and whether their role is public-facing;
• whether the request is targeted at particular officials involved in, or responsible for, specific work;
• whether disclosure would be fair and lawful under data‑protection legislation, including whether release may lead to harassment of, or significant undue external pressure on, the individual.

As a general rule, staff below SCS are considered not senior enough for their names to be disclosed, and their names are therefore normally exempt from release.

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