PUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYMENT IN SCOTLAND STATISTICS FOR 3rd QUARTER 2014

The statistics in this release are based on administrative records and surveys of individual public sector bodies carried out by the Scottish Government and the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This is a snapshot of employment as at September 2014. The publication includes information on public sector employment in Scotland with distinctions made for employment in devolved bodies and reserved bodies (located in Scotland).


Table 4: Total devolved public sector employment by sector; Scotland, Headcount
Not Seasonally Adjusted

Total Devolved
Public Sector

NHS6
Civil Service Police and Fire Services2 Further Education Colleges3,5 Other Public Bodies3 Local Government2,4 Public Corporations
Q3 1999 471,700 129,700 14,600 - 15,700 8,600 293,600 9,500
Q3 2008 526,000 156,500 17,000 - 16,900 15,700 313,200 6,700
Q3 2009 520,200 159,800 17,600 - 16,000 16,000 304,500 6,300
Q3 2010 513,300 158,800 17,600 - 17,100 15,700 297,700 6,400
Q3 2011 491,700 154,500 16,900 - 15,100 14,800 284,000 6,300
Q3 2012 486,000 155,300 16,500 - 14,200 14,900 278,700 6,500
Q3 2013 484,500 157,400 16,800 29,800 13,500 13,900 246,100 7,100
Q3 2014 486,600 159,700 17,300 28,800 13,500 14,200 246,100 7,000
Change on year to:
Q3 2014 2,100 2,400 500 -1,000 100 300 0 -100
% change on year:
Q3 2014 0.4% 1.5% 3.1% -3.4% 0.6% 2.2% 0.0% -1.4%

Notes:
1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred; percentages are based on unrounded figures. "-" denotes blank entries.
2. Police and Fire Reform: Some of the change on year estimates will be affected by reclassification of organisations as a result of reforms to the police and fire services in Scotland. From Q2 2013 Police and Fire Services have been reclassified as central government rather than local government. This reclassification has had an impact on the staffing numbers in both these categories. Also, from Q2 2013 staffing levels for the Scottish Police Authority (previously Scottish Police Services Authority) are included within the Police and Fire Services category in the table above (previously included in other public bodies).
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.
4. A number of local government staff have transferred to arms length organisations which are part of the private sector under National Accounts definitions. For example, staff transferred from Glasgow City Council to Cordia Limited Liability Partnership from 1 April 2009 thus explaining the decrease in local government employment between 2008 and 2009.
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 WTE headcount staff transferred from Highland Council to NHS Highland as a result of the move to integrated health and social care services.
7. Detailed tables showing a full time series of data - all quarters back to Q1 1999 - are available to download from the Public Sector Employment Websection: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Labour-Market/PublicSectorEmployment

Contact

Email: Claire Gordon

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