FOI/202400443951 · FOI · unclear
Scottish Government employment of Policy Managers: FOI release
Information requested
By financial year, from 2015 to present:
1. (Question 1) Total expense by the Scottish Government on employing Policy Managers. Please list exact job titles you include. Please break this down by: a. Wage bill b. Employer taxes c. Pension contributions d. Severance/voluntary redundancy payments e. Perks f. Other (if applicable. Please break this down further by any significant sub-categories if these are stored).
2. (Question 2) Total expense by the Scottish Government on employing Policy Officers. Please break this down by the same categories as specified in (1).
3. (Question 3) Average wage of Scottish Government-employed Policy Managers, both actual and full time equivalent.
4. (Question 4) Average wage of Scottish Government-employed Policy Officers, both actual and full time equivalent.
Response
In relation to all questions, Scottish Government only holds information on job titles from the 2017-2018 Financial Year onwards. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested.
Information relates to Scottish Government Core Directorates only.
Question 1
Job titles which have been interpreted as falling under the scope of 'Policy Manager' have been attached in Annex A: job titles due to the volume of job titles in scope.
We have interpreted 'perks' as employee recognition reward mechanisms, which are commonly understood to be employee 'perks'. The table is broken down by wage costs, employer nationalinsurance contributions, and pension contributions. The cost of severance/ voluntary redundancy payments, and other 'perks', was nil.
(£) 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 April 2024 to September 2024 Pension Contributions 1,528,000 1,914,976 2,787,952 3,304,496 4,312,818 5,047,116 5,893,135 3,442,161 Employer National Insurance 820,210 1,003,260 1,112,014 1,341,750 1,739,456 2,107,205 2,378,990 1,330,824 Wage Costs 7,580,007 9,323,043 10,446,853 12,444,302 16,089,071 18,498,302 21,481,472 11,854,617 Total Expense 9,928,218 12,241,279 14,346,819 17,090,548 22,141,344 25,652,623 29,753,597 16,627,602
Question 2
Job titles which have been interpreted as falling under the scope of 'Policy Officer' have been attached in Annex A: job titles due to the volume of job titles in scope.
We have interpreted 'perks' as employee recognition reward mechanisms, which are commonly understood to be employee 'perks'. The table is broken down by wage costs, employer national insurance contributions, and pension contributions. The cost of severance/ voluntary redundancy payments, and other 'perks', was nil.
(£) 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 April 2024 to September 2024 Pension Contributions 3,074,345 3,486,089 5,491,929 6,418,446 7,441,865 8,538,731 8,839,115 5,103,730 Employer National Insurance 1,506,137 1,695,115 2,059,406 2,440,847 2,846,402 3,453,746 3,472,609 1,902,859 Wage Costs 14,955,854 16,994,165 20,590,703 24,114,635 27,834,908 31,710,261 32,697,074 17,604,337 Total Expense 19,536,336 22,175,369 28,142,037 32,973,927 38,123,176 43,702,738 45,008,798 24,610,926
Question 3
The table below sets out the average wage of Scottish Government employed policy managers (both actual and FTE), for the same period. Please note that salary information provided reflects substantive salaries, which is then multiplied by FTE to get the actual salary. Staff identified are based on the data as at 31 March at the end of the financial year, and salaries are as at 31 March (or 30 September for the 2024-2025 Financial Year).
Total staff as at end of fifinancial year 210 257 288 339 433 441 479 499 Mean Actual Salary (£) 37,780 37,833 38,152 39,401 40,668 42,823 46,184 48,225 Mean Salary FTE (£) 39,722 40,031 40,514 41,768 42,550 44,877 48,347 50,542
Question 4
The table below sets out the average wage of Scottish Government employed policy officers (both actual and FTE), for the same period. Please note that salary information provided reflects substantive salaries, which is then multiplied by FTE to get the actual salary. Staff identified are based on the data as at 31 March at the end of the financial year, and salaries are as at 31 March (or 30 September for the 2024-2025 Financial Year).
Total staff as at end of fifinancial year 514 640 700 790 893 903 850 866 Mean Actual Salary 30,996 31,291 32,328 33,117 34,302 36,523 39,454 41523.54 Mean Salary FTE 32,496 32,621 33,626 34,410 35,511 37,916 41,161 43244.57
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Detected exemption language
This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested.