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A briefing paper setting out end year total expenditure figures is also published today.

The end year total for the financial year 2021/22 is £22,240,702 which is an increase of £4,952,168 or 28.64% on the previous year’s corresponding figure of £17,288,534.

The rise is primarily attributable to a £36,700 a year increase in ���˿��� Staff Cost Provision – the fund which enables ���˿��� to employ staff – that came into effect in April 2021.

The additional resource, first announced in December 2020, was introduced to enable ���˿��� to employ an additional member of staff following a significant rise in ���˿���’ casework supporting their constituents.

The 2021/22 expenditure figures also include non-recurring winding up costs at the time of the May 2021 Scottish Election.

A Scottish Parliament spokesperson said:

“This is the first year (2021/22) in which the additional Staff Cost Provision came into effect. It enabled ���˿��� to employ up to four full time staff instead of three, helping to deal with the ‘explosion’ of case work that arose during the pandemic and with new social security powers coming into force.”