Public sector pay policy: technical guide - April 2025
This guide sets out the detailed technical application of the 2025 to 2026 Scottish public sector pay policy, including pay parameters, approval processes, and supporting information for public bodies when setting pay for senior appointments, boards, and chief executives.
Footnotes
1 With the exception of NHS Scotland Executive and Senior Management posts in grades A-I which are directly subject to the Public Sector Pay Policy.
2 It is noted that in some circumstances the Chief Executive is not the Accountable Officer, in such instances it would be either the Chief Executive or the Accountable Officer who would undertake the responsibility to provide the necessary assurances required.
3 More information in the The Fair Work Framework
4 More information in Scotland’s Labour Market Strategy
5 Where a public body does not have a designated Sponsor Team then they should liaise directly with the Public Sector Pay team who will be regarded as their Sponsor Team for the purposes of this Technical Guide.
6 Where the financial settlement has not yet been agreed, the public body will be required to demonstrate the cost of their proposals can be delivered within their provisional financial settlement.
7 This will include progression (if proposed); basic pay increases, including any measures for lower paid staff; as well as any other proposed changes to existing pay and benefits.
8 A smaller public body, for this purpose, is defined to be one which employs around 100 staff (FTE) or less. This limit is based on capturing all public bodies in the lowest quartile for the number of staff employed in each of the public bodies directly subject to the Pay Policy.
9 The Director may delegate this responsibility to a Deputy Director in specific circumstances where the Deputy Director has a closer working relationship with the public body, or when known leave commitments would result in the time required for Senior Official approval to be more than 2 weeks.
10 The Director General may delegate this responsibility to the Sponsor Director when known leave commitments would result in the time required for Senior Official approval to be more than 2 weeks.
11 The approving Senior Officials are the Sponsor Director (or Deputy Director) and the Director of Public Spending. The Deputy Director for Public Spending and the Public Sector Pay team should be copied into all proposals that are submitted for portfolio approval.