The Scottish Government prepares an annual report on the use of ‘settlement agreements’ by the Scottish Government and public bodies; NHS Scotland; and further education colleges.

A settlement agreement is a legally binding contract entered into by an employer and employee to resolve an employment dispute.

The production of these annual reports dates back to the Session 4 Public Audit Committee’s consideration of a joint report by the Auditor General and Accounts Commission, ‘Managing early departures from the Scottish public sector’ This report identified good practice on how public organisations should design, manage and monitor early departure schemes.

Following its scrutiny of this report, the Session 4 Committee asked the Scottish Government to provide it with annual reports on the use of settlement agreements.

Find out more about the Session 4 Committee’s work. The Committees of Session 5 and 6 also asked for these reports to be provided.