Do I call him 'minister'? Does she do her own gags? Rule book reveals all

CIVIL servants usually have a reputation for being pedantic. But now the Scottish Government has released documents that lay bare the quirks of ministers – in painstaking detail.

Guidance for special advisers who write speeches and prepare briefings for MSPs reveals finance secretary John Swinney asks officials to address him as "minister", children's minister Adam Ingram will not take ministerial papers home at weekends, and education secretary Fiona Hyslop would rather write her own jokes.

Alex Salmond's written instructions, known as "ministerial preferences", say: "The First Minister prefers to work with concise facts rather than opinion. He will form his own opinions."

They also say Mr Salmond's briefings for oral parliamentary questions should "contain a few punchy lines to focus on facts and figures which demonstrate why the government's position is right and which identify the government's key relevant achievements and plans".

Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon, requests a parking space each time she is chauffeured to engagements in a government car. Environment secretary Richard Lochhead "loves bullets and diagrams – if a complex process can be explained in a flow chart this is the way that Mr Lochhead would prefer to receive it."

The documents, released under Freedom of Information legislation,

show that housing minister Alex Neil has banned his private office from using the phrase "I am afraid" in letters (the acceptable alternative is "unfortunately"), Mr Salmond likes to see photographs of people before he meets them, and transport minister Stewart Stevenson is very strict about correct spelling and grammar.

Last night, Lothians Labour MSP George Foulkes said the foibles were evidence Scottish ministers were "carried away with their own importance".

He told The Scotsman: "It is astonishing they should waste officials' time in this way. This just goes to show they are so far out of touch. They are forgetting that they are there to represent people, not themselves."

Lothians Tory MSP Gavin Brown also attacked the ministerial preferences. He said: "These revelations have left egg all over Alex Salmond's face. It seems to be a case of ask not what Alex Salmond can do for Scotland, but what Scotland can do for Alex Salmond."

STEWART STEVENSON

FOR plaques, name badges and place settings, Mr Stevenson should be referred to as Stewart Stevenson MSP, minister for transport, infrastructure and climate change.

When at external meetings or visits, Mr Stevenson prefers to be addressed as "minister". Mr Stevenson prefers minutes to be short, to the point and not repetitive.

His private office is instructed to list clearly and succinctly (preferably in one paragraph per issue) issues or background, including relevant facts and figures that he should be aware of, summarise the options available and set out concise conclusions or recommendations.

JOHN SWINNEY

THE finance secretary does not like meetings lasting longer than 30 or 40 minutes and prefers officials to call him 'minister'.

He appreciates officials accompanying him to meetings, events and committee appearances, but asks that numbers are kept to an absolute minimum, especially when external attendees are involved in meetings.

Officials are requested to indicate, well in advance, who will accompany Mr Swinney to each event.

They are also asked to turn up 15 minutes early before external meetings, in case Mr Swinney would like a brief chat beforehand.

FIONA HYSLOP

THE cabinet secretary does not wish her speech writers to agonise over making the speech funny – she will "add anecdotes, jokes etc as appropriate".

For any engagement that Ms Hyslop attends, or announcement which is made, early consideration should be given to any media opportunities or sensitivities involved.

For informal or short speeches, she prefers a short speaking note of bullet points with heading used to signpost the contents. She further prefers her staff to use full sentences, not abbreviated, so she can read them out loud verbatim if necessary.

She also asks them to test drive the speech on colleagues first.

ALEX SALMOND

SUBMISSION deadlines for the First Minister's box are at 5pm Monday to Thursday and noon on Fridays.

Background notes to briefing for meetings should comprise one page of key facts and figures relevant to the meeting, in bullet point format. It should also include a simple table showing funding streams relating to the policy area, for 2007-8 and for the three years of the spending review.

Anything which should not be disclosed to the First Minister's (questioners] should be clearly labelled as such.

The First Minister also likes to be provided with a list of people he will meet during official engagements, with short biographical notes – particularly on political background – and photographs if possible.

ALEX NEIL

Likes briefing packs for events to state whether the event is formal or informal, and specify the appropriate dress code.

He has banned his private officers from using the phrase: "Scottish ministers have no locus to intervene", preferring the wording "it is not appropriate for Scottish ministers to intervene".

He has also instructed secretaries not to use esquire after a name when writing letters. His ministerial preferences state: "The minister may not know what some abbreviations stand for - best to spell it out full at least once."

Mr Neil wants any reference to Scottish Executive to be referred to as Scottish Government.