The First Minister held a press conference in Bute House on Monday morning.
11:01, 14 Apr 2025Updated 11:10, 14 Apr 2025
First Minister of Scotland John Swinney
John Swinney has defended the £20,000 pay rise for Scottish Government ministers as “fair”.
The First Minister said it was a ” principle of fairness” for ministers to receive the pay bump when other people’s bills are rising.
Swinney also said that his ministers were “entitled” to the rise which takes a Cabinet Secretary’s salary to £116,125.
It comes after swingeing council tax rises of up to 15.6% came into force in April.
The FM was speaking during a press conference at Bute House on Monday morning.
He said: “The decision I took at the start of the tax year, which I think is the appropriate point and I communicated it openly to parliament…
“I’ve maintained the 16-year freeze on ministerial pay, which I think is necessary.
“But I’ve applied the principle of fairness that I think all members of the Scottish Parliament should be able to take the salary to which they are entitled.”
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He continued: “I’ve reflected on my own position as the decision maker, and I’ve decided, so that people don’t think that I’ve taken a decision from which I’d benefit personally, that I’ll leave my salary, MSP and ministerial, frozen.
“So there’s no sense that I’m benefiting from a decision that I believe it is fair to take for others.”
He added: “The decision I’ve taken is one that just applies a principle of fairness across all Members of the Scottish Parliament.
“I think that’s the right decision to take so that Members of the Scottish Parliament are able to draw the salary to which they’re entitled as MSPs.
“The bit that I can influence, which is ministerial pay, has remained frozen.
“No other ministerial pay arrangement has been frozen across the United Kingdom for 16 years, other than the Scottish Government’s.”
Ministers have two elements to their salary – Government and MSP – and it is the latter part that is rising.
This means the partial lifting of the freeze will see the salaries of junior ministers rise to £100,575 and £116,125 for Swinney’s Cabinet colleagues.
In April, council tax rates and water bills soared in every area of the country.
Thousands of Scots were also plunged into higher income tax brackets and energy bills also rose.
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