FOI/202600517918 · FOI · not held
Number of agency staff who later became permanent employees: FOI release
Information requested
Please provide the number of individuals engaged via agencies who subsequently became permanent Scottish Government employees between 2020 and 2025, broken down by year if possible.
Response
Civil Service recruitment in the United Kingdom is governed by the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010, which requires that all appointments to the Civil Service are made on merit following a fair and open competition. These requirements are regulated by the Civil Service Commission to ensure compliance with the Recruitment Principles, maintaining impartiality and the selection of the most suitable candidates.
Agency workers are employed by their respective agencies rather than directly by the Scottish Government. As such, they cannot be appointed to permanent Civil Service roles without participating in a fair and open recruitment process in accordance with the legislation and the Commission’s Recruitment Principles.
In addition, the department does not hold personal data for agency workers (such as National Insurance numbers or dates of birth), as this information is retained by the employing agency.
Where an individual is successful in obtaining a role through an externally advertised competition, a new employee record is created at the point of appointment. Consequently, the department does not hold information that would reliably identify whether an individual was previously engaged as an agency worker.
The Scottish Government does not have the information you have asked for regarding the number of individuals engaged via agencies who subsequently became permanent Scottish Government employees between 2020 and 2025, broken down by year. This information is not held by the Scottish Government, as we do not retain personal data for agency workers that would enable us to match them with individuals appointed to permanent roles.
This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.
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
Detected exemption language
This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.
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