The National 21st October 2021
THE Scottish Government will spend more than £8 million on its international and overseas offices this year, newly published figures show.
The data, released in response to a Freedom of Information request, shows that the most expensive office to maintain is in Brussels, with a bill for the year 2021/2022 of £2.31m.
With 18 people working there, the Belgium office is also the most heavily staffed.
The next most costly office to maintain is in London, which, with 16 staff, will cost almost £2.2m to run this financial year.
These two offices are the only ones with director-level employees. The Brussels director is paid between £95,930 and £103,495 annually, while the deputy director receives between £77,340 and £83,233.
The deputy director in London, who serves at the head of Scotland House, receives the same salary of between £77,340 and £83,233.
The remaining six overseas offices’ costs are as follows:
– Beijing, China: £550,000 for four staff.
– Berlin, Germany: £555,000 for three staff.
– Dublin, Ireland: £596,000 for three staff.
– Ottawa, Canada: £570,000 for four staff.
– Paris, France: £556,000 for three staff.
– Washington DC, US: £805,000 for four staff.
The total budget to run these international offices for the 2021/2022 financial year then stands at £8.134m.
The Scottish Express Richard PercivalScottish Political Correspondent
00:01, 4 AUG 2022
UPDATED10:00, 5 AUG 2022
SNP ministers came under fire for splashing taxpayers’ cash with their lavish expansion of Scotland’s overseas office network across the EU.
But Alex Cole-Hamilton, leader of Scottish Lib Dems, blasted the plan as a “vanity exercise”.
He added: “As Scottish families look towards the winter with dread because of the soaring cost of living, the Scottish Government has no business embarking on a vanity exercise that new international offices represent.