Appendix A – Our workforce EDI data
Statistical data presented in this report came from data held on the Scottish Government HR System. For any further information related to presented data please contact HR_MI_Team_Mailbox@gov.scot.
Only permanent staff, staff on a fixed-term appointment, and Modern Apprentices are included in the headcounts.
Selecting PNTS (Prefer not to say) is counted as making a declaration for the purposes of calculating declaration rates.
In the below tables, numbers less than 5 are not disclosed to protect individual confidential information and are marked as *. Information not provided denotes that a member of staff has not supplied information; prefer not to say denotes that a member of staff has chosen not to provide information.
Breakdown of age group
| As of 31 December 2025 | ||||||
| Age group | 16 - 29 | 30 - 29 | 40 - 49 | 50 - 54 | 55 - 59 | 60+ |
| No of employees | 18 | 88 | 71 | 43 | 33 | 34 |
| % of total employees | 6.3% | 30.7% | 24.7% | 15% | 11.5% | 11.8% |
| As of 31 March 2024 | ||||||
| % of total employees | 9.9% | 29.2% | 24.3% | 15.8% | 10.6% | 10.2% |
| As of 31 March 2022 | ||||||
| % of total employees | 15.4% | 28.1% | 21.9% | 15.7% | 7.8% | 10.1% |
Since March 2024, there has been little change to the age of our workforce, with the majority of staff still aged between 30-39. However, since 2022, there has been an increase in the percentage of staff in the 40-49 category and the 55-59 group which demonstrates an ageing workforce within FSS. There has also been a significant decrease in the percentage of staff in the 16-29 age group since 2022, from 15.4% to 6.3%.
Breakdown of gender
| As of 31 December 2025 | ||
| Gender | Female | Male |
| No of employees | 138 | 149 |
| % of employees | 48.1% | 51.9% |
| As of 31 March 2024 | ||
| % of total employees | 47.2% | 52.8% |
| As of 31 March 2022 | ||
| % of total employees | 47.7% | 52.3% |
There has been a slight increase in the number of female employees at FSS since 2024, from 47.2% to 48.1%. However, it is still a relatively even split of male to female workforce.
Workforce breakdown by disability status
| As of 31 December 2025: | ||||
| Disability Status | Disabled | Not Disabled | Prefer not to say | Unknown |
| Number of employees | 20 | 160 | 8 | 99 |
| % of total employees | 7.0% | 55.7% | 2.8% | 34.5% |
| Note: The declaration rate is: 65.5% | ||||
| As of 31 March 2024 | ||||
| % of total Employees | 4.6% | 42.3% | 1.4% | 51.8% |
| As of 31 March 2022 | ||||
| % of total Employees | 5.2% | 47.1% | 1.6% | 46.1% |
The number of employees declaring themselves as disabled at FSS has increased from 4.6% in 2024 to 7.0% to 7.0 in 2025. By comparison, in 2023, 14.7% of Scottish Government employees declared themselves as disabled. (Equality outcomes and mainstreaming report 2023 - gov.scot) The decrease in the percentage of unknown declarations in 2025 is encouraging and could be linked to our commitment as a Disability Confident employer to promote to staff to declare their information using the Oracle system. Nevertheless, the declaration rate is still only 65.5% and we would like to see this improve within the next reporting period.
Workforce breakdown by ethnic group
| As of 31 December 2025 | ||||
| Ethnic group | Ethnic minority | White | Prefer not to say | Unknown |
| Number of employees | 13 | 187 | 6 | 81 |
| % of total employees | 4.5% | 65.2% | 2.1% | 28.2% |
| Note: The declaration rate is: 71.7% | ||||
| As of 31 March 2024 | ||||
| % of total Employees | 2.5% | 55.5% | 1.4% | 40.8% |
| As of 31 March 2022 | ||||
| % of total Employees | 2.3% | 59.8% | 1.6% | 36.3% |
There has been an increase in the number of staff from an ethnic background at FSS from 2.5% in 2024 to 4.5% in 2025. By contrast, according to the 2022 Scotland Census, 12.9% of people in Scotland declared having an ethnic background. (Scotland’s Census 2022 - Ethnic group, national identity, language and religion | Scotland's Census), FSS will work to better represent ethnic minorities within our workforce and this will be addressed through our equality outcome “Enhancing Workforce Diversity & Representation”.
Workforce breakdown by marital status
| As of 31 December 2025: | |||||
| Marital status | Married/civil partnership | Never married/in a civil partnership | Other marital status | Prefer not to say | Unknown |
| Number of employees | 106 | 57 | * | * | 103 |
| % of total employees | 36.9% | 19.9% | * | * | 35.9% |
| As of 31 March 2022 | |||||
% of total employees
| 23.9% | 13.7% | 6.2% | * | 55.2% |
The majority of staff remain in the married category in 2025 at 36.9%. Again, the unknown declaration has decreased significantly since 2022 which could be linked to the introduction of Oracle Cloud and our regular promotion to staff self-declare their information within the system.
Workforce breakdown by religion
| As of 31 December 2025 | |||||
| Religion | Any other religion | Christian | None | Prefer not to say | Unknown |
| Number of employees | * | 71 | 111 | * | 83 |
| % of total employees | * | 24.7% | 38.7% | * | 28.9% |
| As of 31 March 2024 | |||||
% of total employees
| * | 23.2% | 29.9% | * | 40.1% |
| As of 31 March 2022 | |||||
% of total employees
| * | 26.1% | 30.7% | * | 35.6% |
In 2025, the majority of FSS employees reported having no religion or belief, and this percentage increased from 29.9% in 2024 to 38.7% in 2025. This is in line with the wider Scottish population as reported in the 2022 Census, for the first time, the majority of Scotland’s population reported having no religion at 51.1%. (Scotland’s Census 2022 - Ethnic group, national identity, language and religion | Scotland's Census).
Within FSS the most commonly reported religion is Christian at 24.7% which also increased from 23.2% in 2024. However, the declaration rate also increased across FSS from 2022 to 2024, as the number within the unknown category as decreased from 35.6 in 2022 to 28.9% in 2025.
Workforce breakdown by sexual orientation
| As of 31 December 2025 | ||||
| Sexual orientation | LGBT+ | Heterosexual | Prefer not to say | Unknown |
| Number of employees | 16 | 175 | 13 | 83 |
| % of total employees | 5.6% | 61% | 4.5% | 28.9% |
| As of 31 March 2024 | ||||
% of total employees
| 4.2% | 51.1% | 4.2% | 40.5% |
| As of 31 March 2022 | ||||
| % of total Employees | 3.3% | 56.5% | 4.2% | 35.9% |
According to the Scottish Government Equalities Mainstreaming report published in 2023, 8.8% of Scottish Government workforce identified as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or any other sexual orientation (not including heterosexual) - Equality outcomes and mainstreaming report 2023 - gov.scot.
At FSS, the number of staff identifying as LGBT+ has steadily increased since 2022, at 5.6% in 2025. The majority of staff continue to identify as heterosexual at 61%.
Workforce breakdown by socio-economic background
| As of 31 December 2025 | |||||||
| High | Intermediate | Routine | Never worked | Unclassified | Prefer not to say | Unknown | |
| Number of employees | 55 | 11 | 16 | * | * | 7 | 191 |
| % of total employees | 19.2% | 3.8% | 5.6% | 2.4% | 66.6% | ||
Description of the categories can be found on the National Statistics website. As the category for socio-economic background is a relatively new addition to our EDI data, this was not reported in the previous 2024 progress report and therefore a comparison cannot be made between previous data.
Workforce breakdown by working pattern
| As of 31 December 2025 | ||
| Working Pattern | Full Time | Part Time |
| Number of employees | 256 | 31 |
| % of total Employees | 89.2% | 10.8% |
| As of 31 March 2024 | ||
| % of total Employees | 89.1% | 10.9% |
| As of 31 March 2022 | ||
| % of total Employees | 89.5% | 10.5% |
There is little change in the number of employees working full time or part time since 2022.