Temporary and interim staff services spend: FOI release
Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
Information requested
Please provide the total annual spend broken down between ‘consultancy’ and ‘agency/interim staff’ categories for each financial year from 2020/21 to 2024/25.
Response
We have interpreted the term ‘agency/interim staff’ as expenditure through the Temporary and Interim Staff Services Frameworks (3rd Generation and 4th Generation).
Expenditure data for Scottish Government Core Directors General under these frameworks for financial years 2020/21 to 2024/25 is attached to this response.
Information relating to public bodies, agencies and other organisations within the wider Scottish Administration may be held by those organisations. Requests for such information should be made directly to the relevant organisation.
In relation to ‘consultancy’ expenditure, we have not provided corresponding figures.
Consultants are specialist temporary workers who are typically engaged through a specific procurement exercise to deliver a discrete piece of work, rather than to fulfil an ongoing role or support business-as-usual activities. Such engagements are generally commissioned on an output-based basis, with payment made against agreed deliverables. Since September 2025, consultancy engagements have no longer been recorded as a separate category and are principally classified as Service Contractors.
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the cost of locating, retrieving and providing the information would exceed the upper cost limit set out under section 12 of FOISA.
Information on consultancy expenditure is not held centrally. Complying with this part of your request would require a Scottish Government-wide exercise to identify, locate and retrieve relevant information from individual Directorates and business areas. It has previously been established that a Scottish Government-wide trawl would exceed the upper cost limit under FOISA. This approach is supported by: Decision 162/2012 | Scottish Information Commissioner
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.
Contact
Please quote the FOI reference
Central Correspondence Unit
Email: contactus@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000
The Scottish Government
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG