Scotland’s ‘bloated and overpaid’ civil service has ballooned to an unprecedented size – despite a high-profile promise of cuts by the SNP.

Last year former finance secretary Shona Robison pledged to slash the number of government employees to help reduce pressure on the country’s finances.

However, The Scottish Mail on Sunday can reveal that, since then, the headcount has actually grown – to a new high of 27,800.

At the same time, pay rises mean record numbers of senior government staff are earning in excess of £120,000 a year – making them better paid than some of the ministers they work for. Despite the growing army of highly-paid government staff, public satisfaction with services has been falling steadily.

Scottish Tory finance spokesman Craig Hoy said: ‘It demonstrates the SNP’s warped priorities that, at the same time as imposing swingeing cuts on essential services and record high taxes on hard-pressed Scots, the cost of running their government has mushroomed.

‘Overtaxed Scots are being taken for a ride by the SNP.’

William Yarwood, campaigns director at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Scots are being hammered with higher taxes while the devolved civil service swells to record levels.

‘The SNP promised to slim down the state, but taxpayers have instead been left funding more officials, more bureaucracy and six-figure salaries across the top of government.

‘Ministers should stop reaching deeper into the pockets of hard-working Scots and start cutting the bloated bureaucracy they have allowed to grow on their watch.’

Scottish Tory MSP Craig Hoy says the size of the civil service is out of control 

Former finance secretary Shona Robison promised to reduce the numbers by 20 per cent

The record size of the civil service is revealed in newly published statistics about the devolved administration.

This includes staff in the government’s core directorates, such as health, economy and education, plus the Crown Office, non-ministerial departments and agencies such as Social Security Scotland and Transport Scotland.

When the SNP took power in 2007 the devolved civil service employed 16,000 staff. Since then it has grown 74 per cent to a new record high in April this year of 27,800. Although there has been a slight dip in the number of staff in the government’s core directorates, this has been more than offset by increased staffing levels in its various agencies.

The rise comes despite Ms Robison vowing last year to introduce a 20 per cent cut in civil service numbers.

Meanwhile, senior officials earn more than ever before. Every year the government publishes a list of the salaries for what are called Senior Civil Service (SCS) positions.

In 2024, there was an outcry when it emerged 66 SCS staff were earning more than £100,000 a year. But thanks to recent pay rises, 70 SCS staff now take home a basic salary of more than £110,000 a year.

This includes 37 officials who pocket an annual salary of more than £120,000.

The highest paid is Caroline Lamb, who earns between £205,000-£209,999 in her dual role as head of the Scottish NHS and director general of the government’s health and social care directorate.

The Scottish Government highlighted the recent drop in staff numbers within its core directorates and insisted reductions are planned across the entire civil service.

A spokesman said: ‘In the year to March 2026, the number of staff in the core Scottish Government reduced by more than 3 per cent.’

Regarding the salaries for senior staff, the spokesman said that Senior Civil Service pay was reserved to the UK Government.