Prospect national secretary Alan Denney and Jim Henderson, a member of the union's national executive committee, met the Deputy First Minister John Swinney on 2 October to talk about pay policy.

The minister was keen to hear Prospect’s views on the type of pay policy it hopes will prevail in Scotland after the Scottish budget is published in late November/early December.

Denney and Henderson emphasised the need to continue to pay progression increases to members, as well as a cost of living increase, and sought a reassurance that the guarantee of no compulsory redundancies would be extended into the next Scottish Parliament, which will run until 2021.

They also reminded Swinney that he himself had accepted in 2013 that pay restraint could not last forever and pushed for the Scottish Government to take action to deliver on that point.

"The fact that more than £4.2 million is being spent on recruitment and retention payments in the wider administration supports Prospect’s argument that Scottish government pay systems, some of which are nearly 20 years old, must be reviewed and realistic increases in pay scales delivered," said Denney.

Denney and Henderson reminded the Minister that the £21,000 threshold for additional increases had been fixed for a number of years and that many junior staff were now on the wrong side of the barrier. Prospect called for an increase in both the limit and the size of the minimum pay uplift.

In response the Minister said he had concerns with the UK government position, specifically setting a 1% cap for each of the next four years.

However, he felt that 2016 would be a very difficult year financially but that there would be less pressure thereafter.

He said he was not impervious to the issues raised and was aware that staff are leaving the Scottish government because of the levels of pay on offer. He also seemed to have noted Prospect’s concerns about pay systems.

Although he did not commit to an official position at the meeting, he hinted that a short- term policy would emerge in the budget and that there would be opportunities to develop the matter further after next year’s Scottish elections.

The Minister said he would welcome a further meeting with Prospect and the other civil service unions around the time that the pay policy is to be published.