Public sector employment in Scotland: statistics for first quarter 2020

3. Devolved Public Sector Employment in Scotland; Headcount

(see Table 3)

Employment in the devolved public sector was 8,700 (1.7%) higher, at 508,700 in March 2020 compared with 500,000 in March 2019.

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,
• Police and Fire Services (Q2 2013 onwards),
• NHS in Scotland,
• Further Education Colleges,
• Devolved Public Corporations,
• Other Devolved Public Bodies (which covers Non-Departmental Bodies and other bodies).

Chart 4 shows the size of each group in the devolved public sector as at March 2020.

Source: Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Quarter 1 2020
Note: Totals may not equal the sum of the individual parts due to rounding

The increase in the overall headcount over the year in the devolved public sector was due to:

• Employment levels in Scottish Local Government rising by 2,810 (1.1%) to 253,000 in March 2020;
• Employment in the Devolved Civil Service rising by 2,460 (13.1%) to 21,100 in March 2020;
• Employment levels in the NHS rising by 2,910 (1.8%) to 167,000 in March 2020;^[4]
• Employment in Further Education Colleges rising by 160 (1.1%) to 14,400 in March 2020.
• The number of Police and Fire Service employees rising by 470 (1.7%) to 28,400 in March 2020.
• Employment in Public Corporations rising by 30 (0.4%) to 8,000 in March 2020;

while:

• Employment in Other Public Bodies fell by 150 (0.9%) to 15,900 in March 2020;