FOI/202000029910 · FOI · unclear
Public Sector staff on furlough: FOI release
Information requested
The number of public sector staff on furlough due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Response
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is a UK wide scheme, which is managed by the UK Government. Accountable Officers and those with organisational budget accountability are ultimately responsible for the decision to claim through the scheme. Only organisations that are not fully funded by public grants can consider accessing the scheme. However public bodies which rely extensively on commercial income can apply to access it. Public Bodies which are fully funded from the public purse are not expected to furlough staff. Where staff in such public bodies are not able to carry out their usual work, employers should be making every effort to redeploy staff to assist with the Coronavirus response or maintain essential services, either within that organisation or to another part of the public sector. Public Bodies which are only part funded from the public purse and which have lost some or all income from other sources as a result of the impact of Coronavirus and would otherwise not have sufficient funding to pay all staff can consider furloughing staff and claiming a Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) grant from HMRC. Those Public Sector organisations which are eligible to claim under the CJRS have been advised to claim only when absolutely necessary and to ensure that their organisation is not ‘double-funded’, i.e. that they do not receive funding from the CJRS in addition to other funding they receive to cover the same staff costs. There are a small number of public bodies whose commercial income has reduced to the extent that they no longer have sufficient income to cover all staff costs and are entitled to apply for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). The Scottish Government supports these bodies to furlough staff and claim CJRS, with trade unions fully consulted/engaged. The number of public sector staff which have been placed on furlough through the CJRS is therefore relatively small. The table below outlines the figures for the public bodies for which we hold relevant information:
Public Body Total Staff (FTE) No of staff FTE to be furloughed National Galleries of Scotland 450 180 National Museums of Scotland 437 247 Historic Environment Scotland 1474 928 Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 235 120 Registers of Scotland 1049 330 Cairngorm Mountain Scotland Limited (CMSL) 39 Permanent 41 Seasonal 26 Permanent 20 Seasonal David MacBrayne Ltd 1687 147 Scottish Canals 212 86 Highlands & Islands Airports Ltd 598 102 sportscotland 330 77 Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority 158 22
You may be able to access more information by contacting the relevant bodies directly.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Contact Please quote the FOI reference Central Enquiry Unit Email: ceu@gov.scot Phone: 0300 244 4000 The Scottish Government St Andrews House Regent Road Edinburgh EH1 3DG
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