FOI/202600504656 · FOI · partially withheld
Scottish Government Ministers pay rise documentation: FOI release
Information requested
1. Could you supply all documentation held by the Scottish Government, including minutes/notes from meetings, correspondence sent and received (including internal), briefings and analysis, about pay rises for Scottish Government Ministers, between December 1 2025 and the date of this FOI?
3. Could you supply how much money the government has spent on flights for Ministers in each of the last five years, with a breakdown per year and per flight?
Response
1. In response to your first request, I enclose a copy of the information you requested. At Annex A I have supplied a copy of all of the documentation held by the Scottish Government on Ministerial pay between 1 December 2025 and the date of your request (3 February 2026).
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because an exemption under section 38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to that information. The only redactions made to the material enclosed in Annex A are to remove the names and contact details of civil servants under the grade of Senior Civil Servant and to remove your own email address. Other that the application of this exemption for these reasons, the material is released in full.
This exemption is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.
3.In response to your third request, all of the information you have requested is available from Ministerial engagements, travel and gifts - gov.scot. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.
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.
Detected exemption language
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because an exemption under section 38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to that information. Other that the application of this exemption for these reasons, the material is released in full. This exemption is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you.