Remuneration report

The Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland is appointed by the SPCB with the agreement of the Scottish Parliament. The Commissioner’s remuneration is set by the SPCB.  

Members of the Senior Management Team are employees. Their terms of employment are set by the Commissioner, are analogous with those of Scottish Parliamentary staff and, in line with the Scottish Parliamentary Commissions and Commissioners etc. Act 2010, are approved by the SPCB.

Single total figure of remuneration (Audited)

Notes

1. Salary covers both pensionable and non-pensionable amounts. It includes gross salary and, if awarded, overtime, recruitment and retention allowances, taxable allowances and any ex-gratia payments. It does not include employer’s national insurance or pension contributions.
   
   The SPCB does not award performance pay or bonuses to office-holders, nor does the Commissioner operate a performance pay or bonus scheme for staff members. No benefits in kind were awarded to the Commissioner or members of the SMT
    
2. The value of pension benefits accrued during the year is calculated as the real increase in pensions and applying the HMRC methodology multiplier of 20 plus the real increase in any lump sum. The real increases exclude increases due to inflation (6.7%) and are net of contributions made by the individual.
   
   Pension benefit figures in 2023/24 are affected by the ‘rollback’ into legacy schemes for members affected by the 2015 Remedy.  See note 2 under the Pension Benefits (Audited) table below for full details.
    
3. Ian Bruce fulfilled the role of Acting Commissioner until 28 February 2022 and was appointed as Commissioner as of 1 March 2023.
   
   Salary for 2023/24 includes an element of backpay relating to the Acting Commissioner role due to a change in grading policy implemented in April but backdated to the prior financial year.  Actual salary as Commissioner only in 2023/24 sits in the salary band £90 - £94k. This salary is used in Figures 21 and 24.
   
   The salary details for 2022/23 reflect the full year equivalent salary and non-pensionable allowance for his role as Acting Commissioner rather than full year equivalent salary for his role as Commissioner, which would sit in the band £90k - £94k. Full details of 2022/23 salary arrangements can be found in the prior year annual report and accounts.
    
4. The Head of Corporate Services (and Accountable Officer until 28 February 2023) received a salary in the band £60-£64k and a non-pensionable allowance in the range £0k - £4k for undertaking their additional responsibilities in the year 2022/23. These allowances are included in the 2022/23 comparison figures in the table above.
    
5. The Hearings and Investigations Officer was appointed in May 2023. The salary and pension details above reflect the actual period of employment from May 2023 onwards. The full year equivalent salary is in the band £50k - £54k.

Pension benefits (Audited)

Notes:

1. A CETV is the actuarially assessed capitalised value of the pension scheme benefits accrued by a member at a point in time. The benefits valued are the member’s accrued benefits and any contingent spouse’s pension payable from the scheme. A CETV is a payment made by a pension scheme or arrangement to secure pension benefits in another pension scheme or arrangement when the member leaves a scheme and chooses to transfer the benefits accrued in their former scheme. The pension figures shown relate to the benefits that the individual has accrued because of their total membership of the scheme including any benefit transferred from another scheme and not just their service in a senior capacity to which the disclosure applies. The real increase in CETV reflects the increase in CETV effectively funded by the employer. It does not include the increase in accrued pension benefits due to inflation, contributions paid by the employee and uses common market valuation factors for the start and end of the period.
    
2. All the above are members of the Civil Service and Others Pension Scheme (CSOPS) and/or the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS). Under these Schemes there is no automatic lump sum on retirement.
    
3. When the UK Government introduced new public service pension schemes in 2015, there were transitional arrangements which treated existing scheme members differently based on their age. Older members of the PCSPS remained in that scheme, rather than moving to alpha. In 2018, the Court of Appeal found that the transitional arrangements in the public service pension schemes unlawfully discriminated against younger members. As a result, steps are being taken to remedy those 2015 reforms, making the pension scheme provisions fair to all members. The public service pensions remedy is made up of two parts. The first part closed the PCSPS on 31 March 2022, with all active members becoming members of alpha from 1 April 2022.
   
   The second part removes the age discrimination for the remedy period, between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022, by moving the membership of eligible members during this period back into the PCSPS on 1 October 2023. This is known as “rollback”.
   
   For members who are in scope of the public service pension remedy, the calculation of their benefits for the purpose of calculating their Cash Equivalent Transfer Value and their single total figure of remuneration, as of 31 March 2023 and 31 March 2024, reflects the fact that membership between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022 has been rolled back into the PCSPS. Although members will in due course get an option to decide whether that period should count towards PCSPS or alpha benefits, the figures show the rolled back position i.e., PCSPS benefits for that period

Fair Pay Disclosure (Audited)

Reporting bodies are required to disclose the relationship between the remuneration of the highest-paid director in their organisation, that being the Commissioner, and the lower quartile, median and upper quartile remuneration of the organisation’s workforce.

Total remuneration includes salary, non-consolidated performance related pay and benefits-in-kind. It does not include severance payments, employer pension contributions or the cash equivalent transfer value (CETV) of pensions. It is based on annualised, full-time equivalent remuneration as at the reporting period date.

As explained under the renumeration report, ESC applies the SCPB grading structure and payscales to its own staff. There were significant changes to both in February 2023 but no further changes before the end of March 2024.  There is therefore little variation in the year on year comparison between the snapshot dates of 31 March 2023 and 31 March 2024.

Minor variations can be attributed to:

• the number of employees at year end increasing by 36% or five staff members
• staff members, including the Commissioner, moving up through their payscales.

During the 2023/24 accounting period, the Commissioner maintained Living Wage Accreditation status. In addition, all employees hold permanent appointments which are open-ended until they retire. Early termination, other than through misconduct, would result in the individual receiving compensation.

Remuneration and staff reports

The sections marked (Audited) in this Remuneration and Staff Report are subject to external audit. The other sections of the Remuneration and Staff Report were reviewed by the external auditors to ensure they were consistent with the financial statements.

Governance statement

As Accountable Officer, I have responsibility for maintaining a sound system of governance and internal control that supports the Ethical Standards Commissioner (ESC) to successfully achieve its objectives, policies and aims. I am also responsible for safeguarding the public funds and assets assigned to the organisation, in accordance with the responsibilities set out in the Memorandum to Accountable Officers for Other Public Bodies. 

Background

The audit for 2020/21 identified serious issues regarding the operation of this office. These issues resulted in the Auditor General for Scotland concluding that a report under section 22 of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 for both 2020/21 and 2021/22 was required. By 2022/23 standard governance and management arrangements had been fully reinstated, resulting in an unqualified audit opinion for that year and we have now entered a period of stability and ongoing improvement.

System of Governance and Internal Control

A system of governance and internal control should both ensure and demonstrate that an organisation is operating effectively, efficiently and economically. The ESC’s system of governance consists of a number of elements.

It is my responsibility to ensure that the functions of the office are fulfilled.

I am supported by the Senior Management Team (SMT), which comprises the Public Appointments Manager, the Head of Corporate Services, the Senior Investigating Officer and the Hearings & Investigations Officer. During the year, the SMT met on 10 occasions to discuss operational and strategic matters. Its actions and decisions are recorded in minutes published on our website.

A Scheme of Delegation relating to the running of the office is in operation. Under the scheme, members of the SMT and individual staff members have delegated authority to make decisions on my behalf. It is available to all staff members and is published on our website. A review of this Scheme and that for Public Appointments rare currently underway. The Scheme of Delegation for complaints handling was updated in 2023.

During the year, the office has been working to our Revised Strategic Plan for 2021 to 2024. Following extensive consultation, a Strategic Plan for the period 2024-2028 launched on 1 April 2024. These plans set out our purpose and strategic objectives as well as the values the ESC will work to.

We operate a biennial business plan. This sets out the actions we will take to achieve the organisation’s strategic objectives. Biennial business plans and associated progress updates are available on our website.

Each function prepares action plans to support the biennial business plan. These outline the specific steps required to complete each action, capture key operational requirements and address recommendations arising from external and internal audit and risk assessment.

The ESC operates a set of standing orders. These describe the organisation’s key operating requirements. An updated set of Standing Orders were approved by the SMT in March 2024.

Managing finances

The ESC is funded through the SPCB and, each year, submits an evidence-based budget bid for scrutiny and approval. The budget is based on the requirements of strategic and biennial business plans as well as projections of anticipated activity and prior year performance. The budget bid is scrutinised and approved by the SMT.

Performance against budget is analysed and reviewed on a monthly basis. Key issues are raised with the Head of Corporate Services and myself, as they occur and at SMT meetings. This allows any financial concerns to be promptly identified and resolved.

The Scheme of Delegation provides clear guidelines for the ESC’s financial management and is supported by a set of financial instructions.
 

Managing staff

A performance management system fully underpinned by the Strategic Plan, biennial business plans and annual action plans is in operation. Staff members agree a series of specific objectives directly related to and designed to achieve the organisation-wide objectives outlined in these plans. As a result, staff objectives are aligned to business plans.

As well as the performance management system, the ESC maintains a number of staff policy documents. These reflect both statutory duties to staff, as well as terms and conditions and HR-related procedures. A full suite of updated HR policies, fully reflecting ESC’s values, are regularly reviewed. Staff members are consulted on and informed about any revisions and also trained on their responsibilities. This ensures that staff members are fully aware of the rights and responsibilities they have.

The ESC maintains a register of interests. All staff members, members of the Advisory Audit Board and key contractors must complete a declaration of interests form. No significant company directorships or other interests were held which may have conflicted with their responsibilities.

The ESC operates a whistle-blowing policy. The Commissioner recognises that the underlying structure of the organisation, with power concentrated in a single individual, may makes it difficult for staff to report concerns. The policy requires staff to first report internally but with the additional option of reporting issues directly to the Chair of the Advisory Audit Board (AAB).

The Commissioner has developed and published a set of core organisational values. These are incorporated into strategic and business plans and into all policy development. Staff members are actively encouraged to consider them when interacting with colleagues and stakeholders. Staff members are encouraged both formally through the performance management system and informally to build strong internal and external networks. The whole team meets on a monthly basis where organisational decisions, challenges and successes are shared. Organisational information and plans are widely shared and staff are encouraged to contribute to them.

Following the approval of our business case for an increased staff complement, work to recruit and induct these additional posts was undertaken throughout the year. The ESC now has a full staff complement, other than one vacancy which the Commissioner has decided not to fill in order to save public money in the medium to long term. The work to be completed by that post will instead be done by a contractor by way of a fixed term contract over the next one to two years.

Managing risk

We operate a full risk management system. The Risk Management Policy is available on our website. Its key principles are:

• ESC will foster a culture that embeds risk management into all aspects of its business.
• Risk management should be a key feature of corporate decision-making processes to ensure that the impact of policy decisions on risk is considered each time a strategic decision is taken or a policy is approved.
• Risk management should be embedded in strategic, financial and business planning.
• Risk management policies will be clearly communicated to all staff.
• All processes and procedures should be designed to take account of, manage, treat or tolerate risk and the impact of risk, in a manner that is proportionate and affordable.
• ESC will maintain, review and update the risk register regularly.
• ESC’s risk management policy and procedures will operate without prejudice to the statutory functions of the Commissioner.

All staff members are encouraged to identify risks on an ongoing basis and at key points in the business cycle. These are documented in our risk register along with any mitigating actions. The risk register is reviewed on a quarterly basis by the SMT, at each AAB meeting and by internal audit.

The key risks to the organisation are detailed in the Key Issues and Risks section of this report. In summary, the most significant risks to the organisation were identified as being:

1. Complete disruption to our IT systems
2. Compliance with SCS directions
3. Lengthy waiting times impacts complainer confidence
4. Worsening economic climate leads to reduction in funding
5. Migration to cloud-based system (M365) fails or is significantly delayed or requires additional resources.

External scrutiny

Our AAB provides advice on governance and financial issues.  Members of the AAB are drawn from the independent members of the SPCB’s Advisory Audit Board. The AAB met formally on four occasions during 2023/24 and otherwise provided advice and support.

The ESC contracts for the services of an internal auditor. Work undertaken during the year comprised a review of our data protection, workforce planning and cyber security arrangements. The systems of control in respect of the first two was considered strong and in respect of the last it was given a rating of substantial.

External oversight of our work is provided by the Auditor General for Scotland, the SCS, the SPCB and Committees of the Scottish Parliament. Extensive work has been undertaken to build relationships with these bodies and a range of other stakeholders.

We actively seek further external oversight of our working arrangements. For example, we retained our Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation in August 2023.

Fraud, bribery and corruption

The ESC requires all staff at all times to act honestly and with integrity and to safeguard the public resources for which they are responsible. I will not accept any level of fraud, bribery or corruption; consequently, any case will be thoroughly investigated and dealt with appropriately. The ESC is committed to ensuring that opportunities for fraud, bribery and corruption are reduced to the lowest possible level of risk.

The ESC’s policies and procedures on fraud, corruption and bribery include the anti-fraud policy, code of conduct, terms and conditions for the supply of goods and services and broader financial governance arrangements. 
    
The ESC’s standard procedure is to declare any fraud, whistleblowing or control failure incidents to the AAB and this forms part of the annual assurance process. 

In 2023/24 and 2022/23 there were no instances of fraud or bribery identified or detected.

Information security

Sound management of the information we hold is essential to our business.

The ESC operates a programme to maintain its Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation ensuring that cyber security arrangements are assessed externally. The ESC also subscribes to the National Cyber Security Centre’s early warning systems which flags security gaps and potential threats.

During the year the ESC reported one minor data breach to the Information Commissioner (2022/23: One; no further action). The Information Commissioner decided no further action was required. 

Effectiveness of governance arrangements

The system of internal control is designed to manage rather than eliminate the risk of failure to implement policies and achieve aims, and objectives; therefore, it can only provide reasonable and not absolute assurance of effectiveness.

I am satisfied that an effective system of internal control for ensuring that finances are managed appropriately was in place during 2023/24. I am satisfied that overall an effective system for ensuring appropriate governance of the organisation was in place during the year.
 

Authorisation
 

Ian Bruce
Accountable Officer
Date: 03 October 2024

Statement of Accountable Officer's responsibilities

Under paragraph 22 of the Scottish Parliamentary Commissions and Commissioners etc. Act 2010 the Commissioner must prepare annual accounts for each financial year, in accordance with any directions given by the Scottish Ministers. The Scottish Ministers have directed the Commissioner to prepare accounts in the form and on the basis set out in the Accounts Direction (Appendix 1).

The annual accounts are prepared on an accruals basis and must give a true and fair view of state of affairs of the Ethical Standards Commissioner, its income and expenditure, statement of financial position, changes in taxpayers’ equity and cash flows for the financial year.

The SPCB has appointed the Commissioner as Accountable Officer, with responsibility for preparing the accounts of the Ethical Standards Commissioner and for submitting them for audit.

In preparing the accounts, the Accountable Officer is required to comply with the Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM) and has:

• observed the Accounts Direction issued by the Scottish Ministers, including the relevant accounting and disclosure requirements, and applied suitable accounting policies on a consistent basis
• made judgements and estimates on a reasonable basis
• stated whether applicable accounting standards, as set out in the FReM, have been followed; and disclosed and explained any material departures in the accounts
• prepared the accounts on a “going concern” basis; and 

The Accountable Officer confirms that so far as he is aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the Commissioner’s auditors are unaware and that he has taken all the steps that he ought to have taken to make himself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the Commissioner’s auditors are aware of that information.

The Accountable Officer confirms that this annual report and accounts taken as a whole is fair, balanced and understandable. The Accountable Officer takes personal responsibility for the annual report and accounts and the judgements required for determining that it is fair, balanced and understandable.

The full responsibilities of an Accountable Officer are set out in the Memorandum to Accountable Officers of other Public Bodies.

Commissioner's report

Officeholders

Ian Bruce was appointed as Commissioner and Accountable Officer from 1 March 2023 for a period of six years.

Senior Management Team (SMT)

The Commissioner leads a senior management team which oversees the operation and development of the office. During 2023/24, this comprised:

Register of interests

The Commissioner and members of the Senior Management Team (SMT) must declare any interests. No significant company directorships or other interests were held which may have conflicted with their management responsibilities and neither the Commissioner nor any member of the SMT had any other related party interests which conflicted with their responsibilities.

Corporate governance

Accountability report

Corporate responsibility

Environmental matters

We recognise that our activities may have both positive and negative impacts in Scotland and further afield. The Commissioner operates a hybrid working system with staff primarily working remotely. The level of in person events, such as conferences, seminars and witness interviews remain much reduced. As a result, the level of commuting to and from the office and to external events remains low, reducing car mileage and road use. The use of electronic communications has completed the transition to a near ‘paperless’ office. Our policies and procedures have always encouraged the use of public transport wherever practicable and reduced reliance on paper copies and postage.

Social, community and human rights issues

The Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies adopted in October 2022 includes a principle of “Equality, Diversity and Inclusion” which requires appointment practices to be inclusive for people from all walks of life and backgrounds. The Code also includes a principle of Respect and associated provisions. These require applicants to be accorded the respect that they are due for their interest and their efforts and appointees for their contribution to public life. The ESC strategic plan for 2024-28 includes an objective to refresh “Diversity Delivers”, a strategy intended to increase the diversity of Scotland’s boards such that they better reflect the communities that they serve. The strategic plan also includes a commitment to making the office more accessible to a wider range of people; the plan itself has been published as an Easy Read version. 
Our activities are intended to ensure high levels of ethical standards on the part of elected members and those appointed to public office by Ministers. We also work to ensure fairness, transparency and equality of opportunity in the appointment process. Our strategic plan for 2024-2026 includes a set of values that reflect our approach to our interactions with the public and our stakeholder organisations. We have made a public commitment to treat each individual who comes into contact with us with kindness, empathy and respect. The conclusions that we reach on whether councillors, board members or MSPs have breached the rules that are applicable to their conduct are always reached having taken cognisance of the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Authorisation
 

Ian Bruce
Accountable Officer
Date: 03 October 2024

Corporate and financial performance

Performance against our business plan

The biennial business plan covering the period April 2023 to March 2025 set a range of corporate and financial goals. Progress is summarised below.

Further detail about the risks the organisation faced during the year is provided under the Key Risks and Issues heading of the Performance Overview section and in the Governance Statement. 

Financial position

Background

The Commissioner is an independent office-holder and receives all of its funding directly from the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB). The Commissioner operates against an annual cash-based budget that is reviewed by the SPCB and subsequently approved by the Scottish Parliament.  The budget may also include access to contingency funding. The accounts are prepared on an accruals basis but the body is funded on a cash basis and management closely monitor financial performance on a cash basis.

Funding

The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body awarded a budget of £1,606,000 to the Commissioner for the financial year 2023/24 (2022/23: £1,143,000).

Following detailed assessment of our anticipated expenditure, the Commissioner surrendered £50,000 to the SPCB in February 2024.

Contingency funding was not required (2022/23: £85,000).

Total funding awarded for the year, including contingency funding was £1,556,000 (2022/23: £1,228,000). Of the funds awarded £1,554,000 was drawn down (2022/23: £971,000).

The Commissioner earned no income in 2023/24 (2022/23: Nil).

There was an £28,000 increase in cash during the year (2022/23: Decrease of £30,000). Cash held at the 31 March was £146,000 (2022/23 £118,000), reduced by current liabilities to £40,000 (2022/23: £32,000). 

Expenditure

The accounts are prepared on an accruals basis meaning that expenses are recognised in the year in which they were incurred, rather than when the cash payment is made.

Including adjustments for accruals and prepayments, expenditure was £1,540,000 (2022/23: £1,014,000). 
 

Expenditure against budget

Revenue expenditure is prepared on an accruals basis but the body is funded on a cash basis. The table above allows a comparison between the two.

The cash budget was underspent by £74,000 (2022/23: £133,000 underspend). An analysis of spend in key areas is given below.

Staff costs were under budget by £72,000.

• The Commissioner submitted a bid for additional staff in May 2022, which was approved by the SPCB in October that year. When submitting the 2023/24 budget bid, we had anticipated having recruited to all of the additional posts by the beginning of April 2023. In the event, these staff members came on board throughout the 2023/24 year, reducing expenditure in this area. In addition, the Commissioner has decided not to make an appointment to one post as he considered that the work could be done by a contractor instead over a fixed term which will realise savings for the public purse in the medium to longer term. 

Savings of £15,000 in other areas were used to offset £13,000 of expenditure on:

• Rolling replacement of IT equipment, enhancements to the Case Management System as well as updating the operating system and making accessibility improvements to the website.

Depreciation fell to £13,000 this year (2022/23: £18,000), applying to a full refresh of IT hardware in October 2019, chairs for the office and remote working purchased in March 2023 and the rolling replacement of IT equipment.

A further breakdown of expenditure is given in note 6 to the financial statements. 

 

Payment of creditors

The Commissioner has committed to the CBI Prompt Payment Code for the payment of bills for goods and services received. Payments are normally made as specified in the agreed contract conditions. Where there is no contractual position or other understanding, they are treated as requiring to be paid within 30 days of receipt of the goods or services. Payment performance for 2023/24 was 99.4% (2022/23: 99.7%). 

Public appointments

Improving diversity on the boards of public bodies

We have a statutory duty to use our powers with a view to ensuring that appointments are made fairly and openly and that as far as possible everyone has an opportunity to be considered. As part of our work in this area, the Commissioner agreed targets with the Scottish Ministers in the strategy document “Diversity Delivers” (published September 2008), intended to encourage applications from as wide a range of people as possible. The strategy also included a range of recommendations, agreed with the Scottish Government at the time, intended to improve on the diversity of Scotland’s boards. Progress against the recommendations is available on our website. The Commissioner has included a refresh and update of the diversity strategy in the Strategic Plan 2024-2028 and plans are underway to tender for a contractor to project manage this work.

The following tables and graphs show the extent to which Scotland’s board members at the end of 2023 reflect the population of the country as a whole and how it has changed over time.   
 

Current demographic profile of Scotland's boards

^† All board members inclusive of the chair unless otherwise stated. Percentages do not include those who did not make a declaration.
^†† Black and minority ethnic figures reflect people from a non-white minority ethnic background.
* Scottish Population aged 18 to 49 as a percentage of the whole population aged 18 and over.
** Estimated based on information from Stonewall Scotland website.
 

How the demographic profile of Scotland's boards is changing 
_{As at 31 December}

* Scottish Population includes 2022 Census data for Female and ME and 2011 Census data for disability

* Scottish Population includes 2022 Census data for Female and ME and 2011 Census data for disability

Socio Economic Information

In previous years there has been interest in understanding some wider aspects of diversity and how these are reflected (or not) on Scotland’s public body boards.  Household income and sector worked (or most recently worked) in were originally recorded and reported in this report.  In December 2021, Scottish Government officials introduced a new system for tracking applicants.  This was introduced for all Scottish Government recruitment and included Public Appointments.  Standard monitoring questions were introduced for all applicants using the system and these did not include the previously asked bespoke questions about household income or sector worked in.  Instead, from February 2023, the Scottish Government introduced a socio-economic background question to the diversity monitoring form; the style of the question is based on evidence from the UK Social Mobility Commission which suggests that if you are to ask one socio-economic background-related question, then parental occupation is the most effective one for determining status.

As this information is still very new in being collected, figures for the overall demographics of those on boards (only including those appointed from February 2023 who were prepared to answer the question) were too low to report this year.  The situation should improve year on year as successful candidates continue to be asked the question and we will seek to report on this as soon as the numbers are significant enough to provide meaningful information. We have been able to access information about applications and appointments related to this question and have provided the limited available information here instead.  This information relates to appointment rounds conducted in 2023.

^ Values for fewer than five have been supressed to decrease the risk of disclosure of information about individuals.

Figure 8

The question asked of applicants is “What was the occupation of your main household earner when you were about aged 14?”  The high level of “not stated” responses has been attributed in part to the fact that the question did not begin to be asked until part way through the year.  

Performance against Diversity Delivers Targets 2023

The following chart shows the percentage of applications and appointments in 2023 by each target group as set out in Diversity Delivers. This information is provided by the Scottish Government and relates to a calendar year.

Performance against Diversity Delivers Targets 2023

Applications and Appointments by Target Group

Key: 
Applications (including incomplete) ➊, Appointed ➋
^ Values for fewer than five have been supressed to decrease the risk of disclosure of information about individuals.
* Unless otherwise stated, all population figures are extracted from 2011 census data
** The target for the BME population is inclusive of people from non-visible minority groups. Up until 2017 the figures reported on have related to visible minority applicants and appointees. From 2017 onwards, the figures have been provided for both visible and non-visible. For this latter category the monitoring form question responded to is “Other white” and includes those who selected “Irish”, “Polish” or “Other white ethnic group”.  
*** Scottish population aged 18 to 49 as a percentage of whole population 18 and over
**** Estimated based on information from Stonewall Scotland website

Performance against our business plan

The Commissioner’s biennial business plan for 2023-2025 included actions intended to contribute to the achievement of our strategic objective relating to public appointments. Progress against the business plan is summarised in the following table:

We publicly report progress against our Biennial Business Plan which can be found on the website. The most recent version is here: Biennial Business Plan 2023-2025 - Progress as at 31 March 2024.

Monitoring and reporting

All information under this heading relates to the Commissioner’s statutory duties to monitor and report on appointment activity and to provide guidance on application of the Code.

The Commissioner’s remit extended to 770 posts on the boards of 100 public bodies at the year end. In the case of a proportion of these bodies, such as regional colleges, only the chair appointments are regulated. Additionally, some bodies are statutorily included in the Commissioner’s remit even though they are either abolished or no longer active.  
 

How many bodies and positions do we regulate?

A list of the regulated bodies is available at https://www.ethicalstandards.org.uk/regulated-bodies.

How many appointments did we oversee?

Appointments are made through a process called an appointment round. During the financial year 2023/24, we were active in overseeing 86 appointment rounds.

Multiple appointments can be made through a single appointment round and the Scottish Ministers can run more than one round in a single year per public body. In certain circumstances we allocate a Public Appointments Adviser (PAA) to oversee all or part of the round. We report on these allocations rather than the number of appointment rounds as this better reflects our actual workload - not every allocation becomes an appointment round.
 

Number of allocations made

Presented by financial year rather than calendar year, as information obtained from ESC records rather than those of the Scottish Government.

Satisfaction with PAA contribution and the extent to which panel chairs feel able to shape the appointments process and body chairs feel able to contribute to discussions around succession planning and influence what was sought

Under the 2022 Code the panel chair takes on specific responsibilities and represents the appointing minister.  When seeking views on PAA performance we previously asked for feedback on the appointments process at the same time.  As the panel chair is now responsible for the process, it was no longer appropriate to ask this question and we therefore now seek views about the extent to which they felt able to shape the process in their role as panel chair (1=not at all, 5=greatly).  We also ask body chairs how able they felt to contribute to discussions on succession planning and to influence what was sought.

Any comments or constructive suggestions made are acted upon by the Commissioner as appropriate. 

Providing guidance

Enquiries and reports arising from scrutiny

The following tables summarise substantive contacts with the ESC office during the reporting year. As this information is gathered by ESC, it is reported by financial year.

[1] PAAs have always been provided reports at the conclusion of an appointment round, but the figures to date have not been provided
[2] Panel chair end of round reports are new to the 2022 Code of Practice.  Only 2 were provided in the 2022/23 year (due to the Code only recently being in place) and so had not been recorded formally in the 2022/23 annual report.  They will be recorded from this point forward.

Guidance on application of the code

The Commissioner’s office provides Code interpretation guidance, primarily to officials and PAAs, on a very frequent, ad hoc basis. Where trends are identified, the Commissioner seeks to provide general guidance with a view to improving on practices and increasing understanding.

A number of pieces of guidance required to be issued during 2023/24:

The Statutory guidance was updated as a result of a finding of a material breach of the Code.  This breach occurred as a result of the minister making a decision that there was an issue (in this case being a locally elected councillor) which precluded an individual from being appointed to the public body board.  As this disqualification had not been made clear in the applicant information pack, a councillor applied in good faith and would otherwise have been appointed, had it not been that the minister decided to apply the disqualification during the final stage of selection.  The statutory guidance has been updated to provide advice on such a situation and confirm that disqualifications should be considered and (where relevant) included in the applicant information pack, so that applicants can be clear about whether they want to apply or not.

Further recommendations were made as a result of two stage 3 complaints received and investigated by the office during the year.  One of these investigations involved recommendations being made relating to good succession planning and reappointments.  The other involved an investigation into 15 different appointment rounds where the complainant was concerned that an unwritten policy to progress applicants who shared protected characteristics as outlined in positive action statements in applicant information packs before other applicants (including them).  This allegation was made based on the complainer reading the press releases issued at the end of appointment rounds. The complainer could not understand why the people appointed were more meritorious than they were.  Although the investigation found that there was no such unwritten policy, it also concluded that the news releases could have provided a more accurate description of how the successful candidate had met the criteria for the role. We recommended that future news releases should more accurately reflect the requirements for the role set out in the application pack. The Scottish Government agreed to implement this recommendation.

Two overarching Code variation requests were made and granted – one to allow panels to make use of a guaranteed interview scheme and the other to request that panel membership (other than panel chair and body chair) could be changed before the planning meeting without reference to the Commissioner.