National Statistics Publication - Public Sector Employment in Scotland - Q2 2013

Introduction

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). The publication includes information on public sector employment in Scotland with distinctions made for employment in devolved bodies and reserved bodies (located in Scotland).

Key Changes to the public sector affecting this publication:

Introduction of single services for Police and Fire in April 2013 and the reclassification of these services from local to central government:

This reclassification has resulted in approximately 29,000 staff (headcount) moving to the central government category from local government. Also, from Q2 onwards the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), previously known as the Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA) is included within the Police and Fire Services category rather than in Other Public Bodies category. See section 3 for more details.

Some of the key points (based on headcount) are as follows:

• In Q2 2013 there were 578,600 people employed in the public sector in Scotland, a decrease of 6,000 (1.0%) since Q2 2012. This level is now similar to that seen in 2003.
• There were 2,520,000 people in employment in Scotland in Q2 2013, an increase of 55,500 (2.3%) from 2,465,000 in Q2 2012. In Q2 2013 public sector employment accounted for 23.0% of total employment, down from 23.7% in Q2 2012 and from 24.3% in Q2 1999 (In 1999 financial institutions were not included in the public sector).
• In Q2 2013, there were 1,941,700 people employed in the private sector in Scotland, an increase of 61,400 (3.3%) over the year. Private sector employment in Scotland accounts for 77.0% of total employment; up from 76.3% in Q2 2012.
• Of the total 578,600 people employed in the public sector in Scotland, 84.0% (486,000; level down 3,000, a decrease of 0.6%) are accounted for by public sector employment devolved to Scotland and 16.0% (92,600; level down 3,000, a decrease of 3.1%) relates to reserved public sector employment.
• The decrease in the devolved public sector was driven by a decrease in employment in local government. However much of the decrease in employment in local government is the result of the police and fire services reclassification noted above. Over the year, employment in local government decreased by 34,100 (12.1%) while employment in central government saw a corresponding increase of 29,000 (11.7%).
• Within the reserved public sector the overall decrease in employment was driven by decreases in the reserved civil service (down 1,200) and public corporations (down 900). There were also decreases in employment in the financial institutions and public bodies.
• If banks were not included in the series:
  • Total public sector employment would have decreased by slightly less, 5,500 (1.0%), rather than 6,000 (1.0%) over the year.
  • The number of people employed in the public sector in Scotland would be similar to that seen in 2000.
  • Employment in the reserved public sector in Scotland would have decreased by 2,500 (3.8%) instead of by 3,000 (3.1%) over the year.

N.B. Financial institutions are not included in the devolved public sector total.

Public Sector Employment Websection

This Websection is in addition to this National Statistics publication http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Labour-Market/PublicSectorEmployment

It contains detailed information including:

• Employment levels for public bodies in Scotland broken down by age (Q1 2012 and Q1 2013). Information by age is considered Official Statistics rather than National Statistics due to it being a new data series.
• Local government employment by local authority for the current quarter. A time series of total local government employment back to Q1 1999 and back to Q1 2011 by gender.
• Detailed tables showing a full time series of data - all quarters back to Q1 1999 - are also available to download.
• Background notes outlining the methodology used to compile this series.

UK Comparisons

Public Sector Employment for Government Office Regions and Nations of the UK can be found in the Office for National Statistics Publication.

Comparisons to UK data should be made using non-seasonally adjusted UK data.

See the regional tables at http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/pse/public-sector-employment/index.html.