Question reference: S5W-26805
- Asked by: George Adam, MSP for Paisley, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 19 December 2019
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Current status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Graeme Dey on 19 December 2019
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 2018-19.
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 2018-19 was £1,105,289. 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 |
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 and Planning). |
Ewan Crawford | Senior Special Adviser Europe and Constitutional issues Government Strategy |
Leanne Dobson | Special Adviser Environment and climate change Land reform |
Kate Higgins
| Special Adviser Rural Economy & Connectivity. Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) Bill |
Davie Hutchison
| Special Adviser Health & Sport Broadcasting First Minister Questions |
Ross Ingebrigtsen | Deputy Political Spokesperson for the First Minister Strategic communications planning |
Liz Lloyd
| Chief of Staff to the First Minister First Minister’s Strategic Programme in Government including Inter-governmental relations. Co-ordination of the Special Adviser team. |
John MacInnes | Special Adviser Political Research. Support for First Minister’s Questions and parliamentary debates. Support to Communications and Policy Special Advisers. |
Stewart Maxwell | Special Adviser Business, the Economy, Skills and Fair Work. Business and Economy outreach Veterans |
Colin McAllister
| Head of Policy Programme for Government. First Minister’s Questions Senior Special Adviser to the Deputy First Minister. Education – apart from Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) Bill. |
Callum McCaig | Special Adviser Finance Local Government and Planning Energy |
John McFarlane
| Special Adviser Justice Transport Parliamentary Business and Parliamentary liaison |
Stuart Nicolson
| Head of Communications Senior Political Spokesperson for the First Minister Strategic communications |
The Special Adviser Pay Bands and Ranges currently in place are:
Pay band | Pay Range (£) | Number of SpAds in Band |
1 | 39,445 – 52,904 | 2 |
2 | 52,905 – 65,016 | 6 |
3 | 65,017 – 86,964 | 5 |
3 (premium) | 86,965 - 100,942 | 0 |
4 | 86,965 - 104,462 | 1 |