Public sector employment in Scotland: statistics for second quarter 2017

Employment statistics snapshot based on administrative records and surveys of individual public sector bodies as of June 2017.


Table 4: Total devolved public sector employment by sector; Scotland, Headcount

Not Seasonally Adjusted

Total Devolved Public Sector NHS 6 Civil Service 8,9 Police and Fire Services 2 Further Education Colleges 3,5 Other Public Bodies 3,8 Local Government 2,4,6,7 Public Corporations
Q2 1999 470,900 129,100 14,600 - 15,700 8,500 293,500 9,500
Q2 2011 498,500 155,300 17,100 - 15,900 14,800 289,000 6,400
Q2 2012 489,200 154,900 16,600 - 14,500 14,600 282,200 6,500
Q2 2013 486,100 156,600 16,700 30,200 13,400 14,000 248,200 7,000
Q2 2014 488,200 159,100 17,200 29,000 13,500 13,900 247,200 8,500
Q2 2015 488,100 160,600 17,900 28,300 13,900 14,100 245,800 7,400
Q2 2016 486,700 161,300 16,800 28,100 14,100 15,600 243,000 7,700
Q2 2017 486,600 162,200 17,100 27,700 13,900 15,700 242,000 8,100
Change on year to:
Q2 2017 -100 860 210 -380 -190 50 -1,020 360
% change on year:
Q2 2017 0.0% 0.5% 1.3% -1.4% -1.3% 0.3% -0.4% 4.7%

Notes:

1. Employment figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred; change on year rounded to the nearest ten; percentages are based on unrounded figures. "-" denotes blank entries. Totals may not equal the sum of individual parts due to rounding.

2. Police and Fire Reform: From Q2 2013 Police and Fire Services have been reclassified as central government rather than local government (as their predecessors were). All police staff are employed by the Scottish Police Authority ( SPA) whether deployed with the SPA or with the Police Service of Scotland. Although the SPA is an 'Other Public Body', to avoid duplication and ensure comprehensive numbers are reported for the Police and Fire category all police staff have been included within Police and Fire (and not the Other Public Bodies category) from Q2 2013.

3. In October 2012 the Scottish Agricultural College ( SAC) merged with 3 colleges to form Scotland's Rural College. This new organisation is classified as a public body as the SAC was. This has resulted in staffing levels moving from the Further Education to Other Public Bodies categories to reflect the merger of these organisations. Although the SPA is an 'Other Public Body' to avoid duplication and ensure comprehensive numbers are reported for the Police and Fire category, from Q2 2013 all police staff have been included within the Police and Fire category (and not in the Other Public Bodies category).

4. A number of local government staff have transferred to arms length organisations which are not part of the public sector under National Accounts definitions. For example, staff transferrred from Scottish Borders Council to SB Cares on 1st April 2015 and from Angus Council to Angus Alive on 1st December 2015 thus explaining part of the decrease in local government employment.

5. Information for further education colleges in Scotland is based on collected information from Q4 2010. The method used to create the back series is detailed in the background notes of this publication.

6. From Q4 2011, NHS has responsibility for employing Healthcare staff within prisons. Previously, these people were employed directly by the Scottish Prison Service ( SPS). Also, In Q2 2012 1,491 & 1062.1 FTE headcount staff transferred from Highland Council to NHS Highland as a result of the move to integrated health and social care services.

7. Prior to Q2 2006, Scottish Borders Council headcount and FTE figures do not include Casual/Relief employees who were paid in the reference period. This means that these figures underestimate the true headcount and FTE for Scottish Borders Council.

8. In Q4 2015, Historic Scotland (previously part of the devolved civil service) merged with the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (a non-departmental public body in the other public bodies category) to become Historic Environment Scotland in the Other Public Bodies category.

9. From Q2 2017, the Civil Service figures include the Scottish Fiscal Commission.

Contact

Email: Tom Pennock, thomas.pennock@gov.scot

Phone: 0300 244 4000 – Central Enquiry Unit

The Scottish Government
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG

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