FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - REQUEST REF: FOI2025/00001S

Thank you for your email of 7 January 2025 asking for information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000. You asked:

I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 regarding the pay structures within your department or organisation. Specifically, I am seeking detailed data on salary bands for all delegated Civil Service grades, including Administrative Assistant (AA) up to and including Grade 6 (G6), along with any special, retained, or industrial grades that align with general Civil Service grades.

Please provide the following information for each grade and band within your department or organisation:

1. Salary Min/Max or Spot Rate: Provide the full salary range for each grade, including minimum and maximum pay points or spot rates.
2. Grade/Band and Civil Service Equivalent: If your department operates its own grading structure, please indicate the corresponding Civil Service grade where applicable.
3. Multi-Year Pay Deal: Please confirm whether your department is currently within a multi-year pay settlement. If so, provide details of this arrangement.
4. Mechanism for Reaching Maximum Pay Point: Outline if there is a structured pathway or mechanism for employees to progress to the maximum salary point within their grade (e.g., time-served contractual pay progression, performance/capability-based pay).
5. Non-Consolidated Pay: Confirm whether your department has a non-consolidated pay pot (e.g., for awarding bonuses or a reward and recognition scheme). Include details of such schemes and specify the total amount represented by the non-consolidated pay pot.
6. Contracted Hours: Confirm the number of hours salary calculations as based on (i.e. 42-hour gross / 37-hour net contracts, or any other variations/calculations). Particularly in relation to National Living Wage/Minimum Wage hourly rate calculations.
7. Weeks Per Year: Confirm whether salaries (hourly rates) are calculated based on 52 weeks per year, 52.2 weeks, or another arrangement.
8. Annual Leave: Confirm annual leave, public holiday, and privilege holiday entitlements for all grades (including retained grades). Specify any mechanisms for leave increases (e.g., one additional day per year up to a maximum, or increases after a set number of years).
9. Overtime Arrangements: Confirm overtime pay arrangements for all overtime scenarios (e.g., weekday, weekend, public/privilege holidays).

Please provide the requested information in an electronic format, preferably as a spreadsheet/table or other accessible data format.

We are writing to advise you that following a search of our paper and electronic records, we have established that the information you requested is held by FCDO Services.

For Civil Service grades below Senior Civil Service levels (AA/AO - G6 inclusive), there is a delegated pay framework, subject to the framework of instructions set out in the Civil Service Management Code and the annual Civil Service Pay Remit Guidance.

Therefore, we disclose the relevant information below regarding our pay structures in 2024-2025.

2024/5 pay bands and grades:

FCDO Services Grades	Civil Service Equivalent Grades	2024/25 Salary Minima	2024/25 Salary Maxima
A2	AO	£27,360*	£27,360*
B3	EO	£30,379	£33,855
TPB3	EO	£31,657	£35,204
C4	HEO	£35,824	£40,205
TPB4	HEO	£38,351	£44,860
C5	SEO	£43,200	£49,299
TPB5	SEO	£45,608	£52,006
D6	Grade 7	£55,970	£64,771
TPB6	Grade 7	£58,123	£67,633
D7	Grade 6	£70,575	£78,813

*spot rate applies to grade A2

No. It is a single year settlement for 2024. In FCDO Services, progression through the pay range to the maxima for the grade is not automatic. It is subject to annual pay awards and satisfactory performance.

Whilst we do not have a structured pathway or mechanism for employees to progress to the maximum salary point, we do operate a form of capability-based pay, whereby staff who meet the eligibility criteria will move to the capability pay point for their grade. This is in the lower third of the pay range. 

This information is exempt under section 21 of the FOIA, as we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible to you.

FCDO Services currently does have a non-consolidated pay pot. To see information regarding our non-consolidated pay pot please refer to the information located on the government website here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fcdo-non-consolidated-performance-related-pay

The information in the link pertains to 2022/23 as this is the most up to date information publicly accessible.

42- hour gross/37-hour net contracts. 52 weeks. See table below:

Grade	Category	Leave on entry	After 5 years’ service (increasing by 1 day each year up to 5 years on the anniversary of your start date)
Delegated grades: Pay Bands A – D	New entrant to the Civil Service (appointed to a role advertised after 1st January 2014)	25 days with an additional day added on the anniversary of entry for 5 years up to a maximum entitlement of 30 days.	30 days
–	Employees appointed to a role within FCDO Services advertised prior to 1st January 2014.	26.5 days	31.5 days
SMS	New entrant to the Civil Service (appointed to a role advertised after 1st July 2013)	25 days with an additional day added on the anniversary of entry for 5 years up to a maximum entitlement of 30 days	30 days
–	Employees appointed to an SMS role within FCDO Services advertised prior to 1st July 2013.	31.5 days	31.5 days
–	Existing employees promoted into an SMS role advertised after the 1st July 2013 (Band D to SMS, SMS 1-2, SMS 2-3)	25 days plus one additional day for each year of service up to a maximum of 30 days if over 5 years’ service. 25 days plus one additional day for each year of service up to a maximum of 30 days if over 5 years’ service. Under a year’s service – 25 days. One year’s service – 26 days. Two years’ service – 27 days. Three years’ service – 28 days. Four years’ service – 29 days	30 days

In addition, there are 9 days paid public and privilege days. These days would be taken if it falls on the employee’s normal working day(s). Where an employee is required to work on a bank holiday then overtime or time off in lieu will be given.  If an employee is required to work on a privilege day a different day must be taken off, overtime is not applicable for privilege days. Annual leave entitlement and Public and privilege holidays are pro-rated for part-time staff.

UK staff (other than SCS) in the UK are eligible for overtime, travel time and TOIL when: - They are required by management to work more than their conditioned hours at times of exceptional pressure, and - Have line management’s prior approval

Staff cannot be paid overtime or receive TOIL for excess hours worked to complete their normal workload or when attending a training course. Part time members of staff may be entitled to some TOIL or additional pay to attend mandatory training which exceeds their contracted hours.

The calculations for Overtime, Travel Time and TOIL are the same with the exception for travel time Monday to Friday.

• Monday to Friday = Time and a half (Travel time Plain time)
• Saturday/Sunday/Bank Holiday = Double time
• Christmas Day/Boxing Day New Year’s Day = Triple time
• Overtime cannot be claimed for privilege holidays.

Once an FOI request is answered, it is considered to be in the public domain.  To promote transparency, FCDO Services may now publish the response and any material released on GOV.UK in the FOI releases section.  All personal information in the letter will be removed before publishing.

Where copies of information have been supplied to you they will continue to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.  You are free to use it for your own purposes, including any non-commercial research you are doing and for the purposes of news reporting.  Any other re-use, for example commercial publication, would require the permission of the copyright holder.  Most documents supplied by the FCDO will have been produced by government officials and will be protected by Crown Copyright.  To re-use Crown Copyright documents please consult the Open Government Licence v3 on the National Archives website.

Information you receive which is not subject to Crown Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. You must ensure that you gain their permission before reproducing any third party (non-Crown Copyright) information.

If you would like to request a review of our decision, you should write to the Data Protection Officer (DPO), Knowledge and Information Management (KIM) Team, FCDO Services, Hanslope Park, Milton Keynes, England, MK19 7BH (e-mail: FCDOServices.DataProtectionOfficer@fcdo.gov.uk).  Please note you have 40 working days to do so from the date of this letter. Please quote the reference number above in any future communications.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may then apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision.  Generally, the Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the FCDO. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF, or online at: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/

Yours sincerely,

FOI Officer

Knowledge and Information Management (KIM) Team

FCDO Services