FOI/202500462549 · FOI · unclear
Recruitment process and costs relating to the role of Head of Scotland House: FOI release
Information requested
You asked:
Could you supply the full costs of the recruitment process to select the new head of Scotland House London, as well as how many applied and who was selected, with a full breakdown of the costs?
Response
The answer to your question is:
The Head of Scotland House (SCS1) role was advertised in August 2024. The role was advertised internally and therefore there was no advertising spend. The recruitment and promotion of Senior Civil Servants must include a robust selection process. Standards for hiring Senior Civil Servants (SCS) are set by UK Cabinet Office. These include the use of additional forms of assessment including psychological assessment, which have supplemented interviews for SCS for over 10 years. Academic research suggests that interviews alone are a poor predictor of future job performance, and supplementing interviews with other forms of assessments, including psychological, strengthens hiring decisions. The Scottish Government have a contract with the Keil Centre for Psychometric Assessments - the spend for assessment and post-assessment feedback for this campaign was £3,810 + VAT.
A total of 5 applicants were received, 3 people interviewed and the successful candidate was Mark Boyce.
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
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