The Scotsman, on UK Politics, 5 November 2026

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MSPs in charge of Holyrood committees to get an extra £15,500 pay

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MSPs who head up Holyrood’s 16 committees are to get an extra £15,500 on their pay packets from next year. From April 2027, committee conveners will get an extra 20 per cent on top of their MSP salary, . This comes after Presiding Officer Kenny Gibson, who previously convened Holyrood’s finance and public administration committee, pledged to look at giving conveners a higher salary. He said the extra £15,542 would make sure their pay reflects the “significant additional demands” of the role.

Mr Gibson wrote to committee conveners on Thursday and said: “Our committees really are at the heart of what we, as a parliament, do. “Not only ensuring that the parliament holds the government to account, but that we are hearing from people across Scotland about the issues that matter to them. Subscribe to The Steamie morning politics newsletter “It was clear to me at the conveners’ group on 4 November how committed each and every one of you is to your leadership role as convener.

I am acutely aware from my own experience however, of the additional demands that come with these positions.” MSPs sitting on the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body voted unanimously to back Mr Gibson’s calls for higher committee convener salaries. He added: “Subject to parliament approving the necessary amendment to the salaries scheme, conveners will, from 1 April 2027, receive an additional payment equivalent to 20 per cent of MSP salary.

“Conveners and their committees will have a vital role to play in this work reconnecting the parliament and the people.” There are 16 different committees in Holyrood, bringing the cost to the taxpayer to £342,000 a year once pensions and National Insurance contributions are taken into account. This will affect the following MSPs: Stuart McMillan (SNP); David Linden (SNP); Calum Kerr (SNP); Duncan Massey (Reform UK); Karen Adam (SNP); Katie Hagmann (SNP); Patrick Harvie (Green); Clare Haughey (SNP); Helen McDade (SNP); Neil Bibby (Labour); Paul Sweeney (Labour); Bob Doris (SNP); Mark Ruskell (Green); Craig Hoy (Conservative); Jenni Minto (SNP); and Willie Rennie (Lib Dem).

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What we found (1)

The Scotsman reports that Holyrood committee conveners will get a 20 per cent salary supplement from April 2027, quotes the Presiding Officer's reasons, gives the cost to the taxpayer and names every MSP affected. Its one slip is arithmetic: the new salary it gives in S2 does not match the 20 per cent and £15,542 figures it reports elsewhere. Nothing else in it misleads.

  1. Uses figures that mislead

    Minor

    “taking their annual pay from £77,711 to £92,253”

    Why this matters
    The article gives a new convener salary of £92,253, a rise of £14,542 on £77,711.
    The impression it gives
    A reader who works out the rise from these two numbers comes away with a figure about £1,000 lower than the one the article reports elsewhere.
    The context
    The article itself says the supplement is 20 per cent of MSP salary and puts it at £15,542. Twenty per cent of £77,711 is £15,542, which takes pay to £93,253, not £92,253. The article's own figures do not add up.

    How we know

    • Elsewhere in the article“the extra £15,542 would make sure their pay reflects”
    • Elsewhere in the article“an additional payment equivalent to 20 per cent of MSP salary”

    Show it in the article

What it gets right

  • “Subject to parliament approving the necessary amendment to the salaries scheme”

    The article reports that the rise still needs a parliamentary vote, so the reader knows it is not yet final.

  • “bringing the cost to the taxpayer to £342,000 a year once pensions and National Insurance contributions are taken into account”

    It gives the full annual cost and says what the figure includes, so the reader can judge the base.

  • “This will affect the following MSPs”

    It names every MSP who benefits and their party, which lets readers see the rise is spread across parties.

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