Director General Corporate/Chief Operating Officer recruitment exercise information: FOI release

Information requested

1) the number of candidates who applied for the role of DG Corporate/COO.

2) the number of internal vs external candidates at application and

3) then at interview stage.

4) The number of appointable candidates internally and externally.

5) Please also release any and all information relating to this campaign which can reasonably be released including general observations of the recruitment round, correspondence with the civil service commissioner and

6) how many candidates were placed on the reserve list.

Response

I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested.

1) The number of candidates who applied for the role of DG Corporate/COO - 121.

2) The number of internal vs external candidates at application - 3 internal and 118 external.

3) The number of internal vs external candidates at interview - 2 internal and 3 external.

4) The number of appointable internal vs external candidates - 0 internal and 0 external.

5) Information relating to the campaign;

• Document 1 - A redacted copy of an email to Senior Leadership Committee dated 27 October 2025 plus attachments (1a and 1b).
• Document 2 - A redacted copy of an email to the Civil Service Commission dated 24 October 2025 plus attachment (2a).
• Document 3 - A redacted copy of an email from the Civil Service Commission dated 27 October 2025.
• Document 4 - A redacted copy of an email to the Permanent Secretary dated 4 November 2025 plus attachment (4a).
• Document 5 - A redacted copy of an email from the Civil Service Commissioner dated 12 November 2025.
• Document 6 - A redacted copy of an email to the Minister for Public Finance Private Office dated 21 November 2025.
• Document 7 - A redacted copy of an email to the Minister for Public Finance Private Office dated 6 January 2026 plus attachment (7a).
• Document 8 - Board Report -redacted.
• Document 9 - A redacted copy of an email to UKG Cabinet Secretary dated 10 March 2026.
• Document 10 - Sift Pack - redacted.
• Document 11 - Interview Pack - redacted.

6) The number of candidates on the reserve list - 0.

Whilst our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested in section 5) because of an exemption under section s.38(1)(b) of FOISA where personal information such as phone numbers, staff and candidates names and email addresses were included in email chains and have been redacted. This exemption applies because it is personal data of a third party, the names/contact details of individuals, and disclosing it would 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.

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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 202600513922 - Information Released - Document 1-11

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