Public sector employment in Scotland: statistics for first quarter 2019

2. Public Sector Employment by Devolved and Reserved Responsibility; Headcount (see Tables 3, 4 and 5)

The devolved public sector headcount was 0.9% lower and the reserved public sector was 2.1% lower in March 2019, compared with March 2018. The Civil Service saw the largest increase (7.5%) in the devolved sector, while Public Corporations decreased by 63.8% due to Registered Social Landlords being reclassified to the private sector. Reserved Public Bodies were 4.5% higher than in March 2018, with decreases in the Civil Service and Public Corporations and Public Sector Financial Institutions leading to the overall reduction in headcount in the reserved public sector.

Figure 2: Make-up of the Scottish Public Sector as at March 2019, Headcount^[7]

The devolved public sector covers those bodies which are the responsibility of the Scottish Government or Scottish Parliament while the reserved public sector in Scotland covers those bodies for which the UK Government has ministerial responsibility.

Source: Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Quarter 1 2019

Changes in the devolved and reserved public sector are explored in more detail in sections 3 and 4 respectively.

Chart 3 below shows that the overall public sector in Scotland decreased by 5,630 (1.0%) between March 2018 and March 2019, and how this is split between the devolved and reserved public sector. Chart 3 also shows the estimated impact of removing major reclassifications from the series.

Chart 3: Annual Change (from March 2018 to March 2019) in Public Sector Employment by Devolved and Reserved Responsibility, Headcount

Source: Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Quarter 1 2019

Note: Totals may not equal the sum of individual parts due to rounding