To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the number of core staff that it employs has risen by 80% over the past decade. The most recent workforce publication shows that in June 2014 the workforce comprised of 5,101 FTE directly employed staff, and 1,249 contingent workers.For June 2024 showed the core Scottish Government workforce comprised of 8,911 FTE directly employed staff and 1,214 contingent workers.This represents an increase of 75% in the directly employed workforce and a reduction of -3% in the contingent workforce.The growth in the directly employed workforce in the last ten years has supported the devolution of new powers to the Scottish Government, for example Social Security and Exchequer functions.