FOI 25-190 Staff Overtime
Freedom of Information Request
- Reference
- FOI 25-190 Staff Overtime
- Request Date
- 24 Apr 2025
- Response Date
- 14 May 2025
- Information Requested
Under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, I am requesting the following information: 1. The total number of overtime hours worked by ambulance staff (paramedics, technicians, and other frontline staff) for each of the last five financial years.
- The percentage of total hours worked that overtime represents in each of those years.
- If available, a breakdown of the cost of above staff overtime by year.
- Response
Please see the attached sheet detailing the number of overtime hours worked by A&E staff for the last five years.
Important Information to Consider when Interpreting this Data
- The figures provided are for the year the overtime was paid; this may not necessarily be the year the overtime was worked.
- The overtime will include hours for cover which are not part of the required hours such as event cover, training; this means it is not like for like when comparing %OT hours to filled hours.
- This information includes payments for shift-overruns as they are paid as overtime.
- The Scottish Ambulance Service did not record shift data for overtime purposes until 2023.
- The role is determined by salary coding.
We do not hold information in a way to report on shift cover data by role, it is for this reason we have applied section 17 of the Freedom of Information Scotland Act 2002 as information not held.
- The percentage of total hours worked that overtime represents in each of those years.
Public authorities are not required to create information in order to answer a request. There’s a distinction
between creating new information, and compiling information. Where a request can be answered by
compiling information from readily-available resources held by the public authority, this is not the same as
creating new information. However, if collation of the information would require skill and complex
judgement, the information is not held.The Scottish Ambulance Service does not have the data set to report on 'total hours worked’. Overtime can be paid to staff attending training on overtime or covering events; to find the percentage overtime worked would require us to review each payment of overtime in the last five years and cross-reference this with that staff shifts. It is for this reason we have applied section 17 of the Freedom of Information Scotland Act 2002, as information not held.
- Response Documents
