Question reference: S5W-07178
- Asked by: Andy Wightman, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
- Date lodged: 20 February 2017
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Current status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 2 March 2017
Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has seconded the director of policy of NFU Scotland to it on a part-time basis; who is paying for his remuneration, and what assessment it has made of any potential conflict of interest.
Answer
Seconding external expertise into the Scottish Government is not unusual. As with all secondments, we assessed the benefits and any potential conflict of interest prior to seconding in the Director of Policy of NFU Scotland to provide technical expertise in agriculture and rural affairs from an industry perspective. NFU Scotland is covering the whole of the costs of the secondment including salary, national insurance contributions, pension and annual pay award costs.