PUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYMENT IN SCOTLAND STATISTICS FOR 1st 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). The publication includes information on public sector employment in Scotland with distinctions made for employment in devolved bodies and reserved bodies (located in Scotland).
3. Devolved Public Sector Employment in Scotland; Headcount (Table 4)
The devolved public sector includes:
- Devolved Civil Service (see section 5);
- Local Government, covering Scottish Local Authorities, Police and Fire Services (up to Q1 2013), Valuation Joint Boards and Regional Transport Partnerships;
- NHS in Scotland;
- Further Education Colleges;
- Devolved Public Corporations;
- Other Devolved Public Bodies (which covers Non-Departmental Bodies and other bodies).
The number of people employed in the devolved public sector has fallen by 400 (0.1%) over the year to Q1 2014, decreasing from 487,800 in Q1 2013 to 487,400. Chart 4 shows the composition of the devolved public sector as at Q1 2014.
Interpreting Change Over Time in Devolved Public Sector
There have been a number of changes to the classification of organisations in the devolved public sector that make interpreting change over the year difficult. These include:
- Police and Fire Services moving from local to central government: This reclassification resulted in approximately 29,000 staff (headcount) moving to the central government category in Q2 2013. Also, from Q2 onwards the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), which replaced the Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA) is included within the Police and Fire Services category rather than in the Other Public Bodies category.
- In October 2012 the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) merged with three Further Education Institutes[6]. The new organisation (Scotland's Rural College, SRUC) is classified as a public body (as SAC was previously). This has resulted in an approximately 500 headcount transfer from Further Education Colleges to Other Public Bodies.
Chart 4: Breakdown of devolved public sector employment by category, headcount, Q1 2014
Over the year:
Employment in Scottish local government decreased by 30,800 (11.0%) to 248,000 in Q1 2014. However, the majority of this change was the result of the reclassification of Police and Fire services in Scotland from local government to central government. Excluding this reclassification, local government would have seen a decrease of 2,000 (0.7%) in employment over the year to Q1 2014.
Other public bodies saw a decrease of 1,400 (9.0%) over the year but this is largely due to the re-categorisation of the Scottish Police Authority, see point above.
Employment in further education colleges decreased by 200 (1.7%) to 13,700 in Q1 2014.
Employment in the NHS increased by 2,200 (1.4%) over the year, to 158,800 in Q1 2014. A detailed breakdown on this information by staffing group was published by ISD on the 27th May 2014. http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/
The devolved civil service saw an increase of 300 (2.0%) in employment between Q1 2013 and Q1 2014. A large proportion of this was as a result of increased employment in the Scottish Prison Service, in preparation for the opening of a new prison.
Employment in public corporations grew by 700 (9.8%) over the year to Q1 2014.
Contact
Email: Susanne Ross
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