WORK to increase preparation for indyref2 in the Scottish Government has increased greatly from the start of the year, it has been revealed.
The number of civil servants working to make new prospectuses for Scottish independence has doubled in under a year, with more than £1 million being spent to fund the team, new figures show.
The “constitutional futures division” is the Scottish Government’s team for drawing up blueprints for an independent Scotland and is led by Brian Dornan who earns between £77,340 and £83,233.
The team was responsible for the two white papers which outlined the economic case against staying in the Union and made the democratic case for independence.
READ MORE: Lord Frost says independence is 'morally wrong' and devolution should 'evolve back'
It only had 10 civil servants at the end of the last year but new official figures obtained by the Scottish Daily Mail show there were now 22 people working on the team.
It was revealed in March by Constitution Secretary Angus Robertson there were 15 people on the team.
The salaries of other members of the team are also known, but Dornan is the only member senior enough to have his pay scale publicly linked to him.
The Mail reports another member of the team, who remains anonymous, is in the C3 pay grade, meaning they earn between £75,446 to £77,340, though this employee is not mentioned in the freedom of information release, published on August 10.
Six members are in the C2 pay grade, earning between £65,275 and £75,341 and nine others are on C1 salaries ranging from £49,861 and £62,167.
One on the team is on a B3 salary of £39,659-£47,485, two are on salaries of between £31,542 and £36,129, which are B2 salaries and two are on B1 rates of between £27,237 and £30,039.
The total annual cost for the team will be between £1,150,402 to £1,351,483.
Scottish Conservative constitution spokesman Donald Cameron said the cash was being spent on “the nationalists’ own self indulgent project”.
A Scottish Government spokesperson told the paper: “It is the role of the civil service to support the elected government of the day in developing and implementing its policies.
“The Scottish Government has a clear democratic mandate both to offer people a choice over their future and to ensure that choice is an informed one.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel