Golden goodbye payments from MSPs quitting Holyrood, including Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf, will cost taxpayers around £2.5 million.
A total of 39 MSPs – almost a third of the 129 elected representatives – are stepping down from the Scottish Parliament in May, with 25 coming from the SNP.
That includes two former first ministers, four cabinet secretaries and three junior ministers.
Former Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross is also among the high-profile MSPs stepping down. Richard Leonard, who previously led Scottish Labour, is also quitting next year.
Holyrood rules mean that MSPs who step down or lose their seat are entitled to a pay out based on the length of services and government or parliamentary roles.
It means the total cost to the public purse is £2,514,118, with £1.68 million of that sum going to SNP politicians, according to the Scottish Daily Mail.
Former first minister Ms Sturgeon and her successor Mr Yousaf are in line for a payment of £74,500 each.
Michael Matheson, who resigned as health secretary in February last year after accumulating a parliamentary iPad roaming bill of £11,000 while on a family holiday in Morocco in 2022, will also receive almost £75,000.
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The former health secretary, who was backed in his position by Mr Yousaf, insisted her had only used the device for work purposes while abroad, but it later emerged his sons had streamed football matches using the data.
He quit shortly after, stating he did not want to become a distraction to the Scottish Government.
Parliamentary rules set the payments at one month’s pay for every year served as an MSP, but with a minimum guarantee pay out of six months – amounting to £37,253 – and a maximum of one year’s salary of £74,506.
Exiting junior ministers receive an additional £8,769 while cabinet secretaries are given an extra £13,998.
Finance Secretary Shona Robison and Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop will both receive £88,500 for stepping down next year.
Both have been MSPs since the Scottish Parliament’s inception in 1999.
Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone will also receive £88,500. Deputy presiding officer and SNP MSP Annabelle Ewing will receive £83,275, alongside parliamentary business minister Graeme Dey and business minister Richard Lochhead.
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes is also stepping down as will receive a £76,088 farewell payment, as will Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon.
The resettlement payment – a full year’s salary – will also be paid to Mr Ross and five of his Tory colleagues, five Labour MSPs, one Green MSP and one Lib Dem MSP.
Former SNP MSP John Mason, who now sits as an independent, will also receive the payment.
Callum McGoldrick, investigations campaign manager at Taxpayers’ Alliance, said: “While Scots face record bills and crumbling public services, MSPs are lining up for golden goodbyes simply for choosing to walk away.
“In any normal job, handing in your notice doesn’t entitle you to a five-figure pay-out, yet politicians on generous salaries and gold-plated pensions are being showered with more taxpayers’ money on their way out the door.
“These pay outs for MSPs standing down should be abolished entirely.”
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