Question reference: S5W-17596
- Asked by: George Adam, MSP for Paisley, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 4 July 2018
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Current status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Graeme Dey on 5 July 2018
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide the names of each special adviser, broken down by (a) responsibility and (b) pay band, and what the total cost of employing special advisers was in 2017-18.
Answer
Special Advisers are appointed in accordance with Part 1 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 by the First Minister as a Special Adviser for the purpose of providing assistance to the Scottish Ministers.
The total cost of the 14 Special Advisers employed during the financial year 2017-18 was £1,045,486. Total cost includes all salary costs, ERNIC and employer pension contributions. The level of the employer ERNIC and pension contributions is not a matter for the Scottish Government.
Their specific responsibilities are as follows:
Name | Role |
Liz Lloyd
| Chief of Staff to the First Minister First Minister’s Strategic Programme in Government including Co-ordination of the Special Adviser team |
Stuart Nicolson
| Head of Communications Senior Political Spokesperson for the First Minister Strategic communications |
Colin McAllister
| Head of Policy Programme for Government. First Minister’s Questions Senior Special Adviser to the Deputy First Minister. Education |
Ewan Crawford | Senior Special Adviser Europe and Constitutional issues Government Strategy |
Ross Ingebrigtsen | Deputy Political Spokesperson for the First Minister Strategic communications planning First Minister’s Questions |
Katy Bowman
| Special Adviser Culture, Tourism and External Affairs Policy support to the Chief of Staff Support for the First Minister and the First Minister’s Private Office Outreach and stakeholder engagement |
Jeanette Campbell
| Special Adviser Communities, Social Security, and Equalities (apart from Local Government & Planning) |
Kate Higgins
| Special Adviser Rural Economy & Connectivity |
Davie Hutchison
| Special Adviser Health & Sport Broadcasting First Minister Questions |
John McFarlane
| Special Adviser Justice Transport Parliamentary Business and Parliamentary liaison |
Stewart Maxwell | Special Adviser Business, the Economy, Skills and Fair Work Business and Economy outreach |
John MacInnes | Special Adviser Political Research Support for First Minister’s Questions and parliamentary debates Support to Communications and Policy Special Advisers |
Callum McCaig | Special Adviser Finance Local Government & Planning |
David Miller | Special Adviser Energy, Environment, Climate Change & Land Reform |
While the cost of the Special Adviser Team has increased by 16% since 2016-17 for further comparison the actual cost of the team of 14 Special Advisers employed during the financial year 2015-16 (provided in answer to question S5W-00837 on
20 June 2016) was £1,140,104 including all salary costs, ERNIC and employer pension contributions.
The Special Adviser Pay Bands and Ranges and the number of Special Advisers within each Pay Band currently in place are:
Pay Band | Current Pay Range | Number of Special Advisers |
1 | £39,445 - £52,904 | 7 |
2 | £51,041 - £67,709 | 3 |
3 | £65,017 - £83,963 | 4 |
3 (premium) | £83,549 - £100,942 | 0 |
4 | £86,965 - £104,462 | 0 |