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Publication - Statistics

Public sector employment in Scotland: statistics for first quarter 2021

Published
15 June 2021
Directorate
Chief Economist Directorate
Topic
Economy, Public sector, Work and skills
ISBN
9781802010343

Statistics 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 March 2021.

View supporting documents Supporting documents

Table S1: Youth (16-24) Employment in the Devolved Public Sector, Q1 2013 - Q1 2021, Scotland, Headcount1

Young People 2
Q1 2013 Q1 2014 Q1 2015 Q1 2016 Q1 2017 Q1 2018 r Q1 2019 r Q1 2021 Change since 2019
Scottish Government Core Directorates (excluding Agencies) 140 230 240 270 310 410 490 440 -50
Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal 90 80 100 110 120 110 130 130 0
Scottish Government Agencies10 410 480 540 450 360 320 330 420 90
Non-Ministerial Departments 110 120 150 190 200 210 200 180 -20
Other Public Bodies 450 520 530 640 630 600 620 560 -60
Police and Fire Services4 - 980 1,130 1,220 1,140 1,090 1,090 950 -130
NHS5 6,130 6,650 7,300 7,380 7,210 7,140 6,950 8,680 1,730
Local Government8 12,180 11,410 11,760 11,350 11,340 11,760 12,100 11,680 -420
Public Corporations7,9 910 1,210 1,010 1,100 1,130 1,180 470 510 50
Total Devolved Public Sector6,7 21,010 22,280 23,390 23,370 23,080 23,490 23,040 24,150 1,110
Youth coverage of total Devolved Public Sector (%) 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% -
%Young People in Total Workforce
Q1 2013 Q1 2014 Q1 2015 Q1 2016 Q1 2017 Q1 2018 r Q1 2019 r Q1 2021 Change since 2019
Scottish Government Core Directorates (excluding Agencies) 2.7% 4.3% 4.4% 5.1% 5.6% 6.9% 7.4% 5.7% -1.7
Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal 5.5% 5.0% 5.6% 6.3% 6.6% 6.4% 7.0% 6.3% -0.7
Scottish Government Agencies10 6.0% 6.8% 7.4% 7.1% 5.8% 5.2% 5.1% 4.9% -0.2
Non-Ministerial Departments 3.7% 4.2% 4.8% 5.5% 5.8% 5.7% 5.4% 4.7% -0.7
Other Public Bodies 2.9% 3.7% 3.8% 4.1% 4.0% 3.9% 3.8% 3.5% -0.3
Police and Fire Services4 - 3.4% 4.0% 4.3% 4.1% 4.0% 3.9% 3.4% -0.5
NHS5 3.9% 4.2% 4.5% 4.6% 4.4% 4.4% 4.2% 4.9% 0.6
Local Government8 4.4% 4.6% 4.7% 4.6% 4.7% 4.8% 4.8% 4.6% -0.2
Public Corporations7,9 4.3% 5.4% 4.6% 4.9% 4.9% 5.1% 5.5% 3.9% -1.6
Total Devolved Public Sector6,7 4.2% 4.4% 4.6% 4.6% 4.6% 4.7% 4.6% 4.6% 0.0
Youth coverage of total Devolved Public Sector (%) - - - - - - - - -
Total employment 3
Q1 2013 Q1 2014 Q1 2015 Q1 2016 Q1 2017 Q1 2018 r Q1 2019 r Q1 2021 Change since 2019 (p.p.)
Scottish Government Core Directorates (excluding Agencies) 5,100 5,300 5,400 5,400 5,500 5,900 6,700 7,800 1,130
Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal 1,700 1,700 1,700 1,700 1,700 1,700 1,800 2,000 190
Scottish Government Agencies10 6,800 7,000 7,300 6,400 6,300 6,100 6,500 8,600 2,030
Non-Ministerial Departments 3,000 2,900 3,100 3,400 3,500 3,600 3,600 3,800 210
Other Public Bodies 15,400 13,900 14,100 15,400 15,500 15,600 16,100 15,700 -320
Police and Fire Services4 - 28,700 28,400 28,200 27,800 27,500 27,900 28,200 310
NHS5 156,500 158,800 160,700 161,700 162,600 163,100 164,100 177,700 13,600
Local Government8 279,000 249,000 249,000 245,000 243,000 243,000 251,000 254,000 3,480
Public Corporations7,9 21,000 23,000 22,000 23,000 23,000 23,000 8,000 13,000 4,820
Total Devolved Public Sector6,7 502,700 503,400 505,500 504,100 503,000 504,000 500,000 524,600 24,590
Youth coverage of total Devolved Public Sector (%) - - - - - - - -

r - due to minor revisions in data

Notes:

1. The information in this table is not national statistics. See https://www.gov.scot/publications/about-public-sector-employment-statistics/pages/public-sector-employment-by-age/ for information about this collection.

2. Youth employment levels rounded to the nearest 10.

3. Total employment levels rounded to the nearest 100, with the exception of local government and public corporation figures.

4. 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, for Q1 2014 onwards 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).

5. Information for NHS is taken from previously released data from ISD, published on 1st June 2021. See https://turasdata.nes.nhs.scot/workforce-official-statistics/nhsscotland-workforce/publications/

6. The Total Devolved Public Sector figures include an estimate for youth employment within further education colleges, based on existing information.

7. The Public Corporations and Total Devolved Public Sector figures include an estimate for youth employment within Registered Social Landlords, based on existing information. From Q3 2018 Registered Social Landlords was reclassified to the private sector which explains the reduction in Public Corporations between 2018 and 2019.

8. In September 2018, Cordia services moved back under Glasgow City Council services, explaining part of the increase in local government employment between 2018 and 2019.

9. Train Operating Companies (TOCs) with franchise agreements with the UK and Scottish Governments agreed Emergency Measures Agreements (EMAs) to ensure continuity of operation during a period of falling passenger numbers. The result was the reclassification of TOCs as public corporations with effect from 1 April 2020. This explains an increase in Public Corporations between 2019 and 2021.

10. Scottish Government Agencies includes Forestry and Land Scotland and Scottish Forestry in 2021, which has contributed to the increase in this category.

11. The annual Scottish Government collection for number of young people employed in the devolved public sector was not carried out in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic.

Contact

Email: LMStats@gov.scot

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