Current status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by John Swinney on 3 October 2013
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide the names of its special advisers; what their responsibilities are; what their pay bands are for 2013-14; how many special advisers are in each pay band, and what the total salary cost of employing special advisers was in 2012-13.
There are currently 13 special advisers. They 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 costs of the special adviser team employed during financial year 2012-13 was £925,105, a real terms decrease of £60,653 from the uprated 12 month cost of the 2006-07 Special Adviser team which was £985,758.
The specific responsibilities of the special advisers are as follows:
Name | Role | Appointed |
Geoff Aberdein |
| 26 May 2011 |
Stuart Nicolson |
| 26 May 2011 |
Noel Dolan |
| 26 May 2011 |
Liz Lloyd |
| 30 January 2012 |
Campbell Gunn |
| 8 July 2013 |
Alexander Anderson |
| 8 October 2012 |
Malcolm Fleming |
| 25 July 2011 |
John MacInnes |
| 3 June 2011 |
Ewan Crawford |
| 13 February 2013 |
Colin McAllister |
| 3 October 2012 |
David Hutchison |
| 8 June 2011 |
John McFarlane |
| 26 May 2011 |
Delancy Johansson |
| 8 October 2012 |
The current special adviser pay bands and ranges and the number of special advisers within each pay band 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 | 3 |
3 (premium) | £83,549 - £100,942 | 0 |
4 | £86,965 - £104,462 | 0 |
Total Costs include salary, ERNIC and employer pension contributions. Total costs figures have been converted into real terms (2012-13 prices) to adjust for inflation using HM Treasury deflators, published on 27th June 2013. These were the latest available deflators at the time of calculation; September 2013.