Public sector employment in Scotland: statistics for second quarter 2019

Summary

Key points (based on headcount data) include:

• In June 2019, there were 558,700 people employed in the public sector in Scotland, accounting for 21.0% of total employment.
• Between June 2018 and June 2019, employment in the public sector was 1,310 less than in June 2018. In this year, Registered Social Landlords, often described as housing associations, were reclassified to the private sector from Q3 2018 onwards.
• When major reclassifications are excluded, the public sector increased between June 2018 and June 2019 by 10,660 (2.0%)^[1],.
• Of the total 558,700 people employed in the public sector in Scotland, 500,400 (89.6%) were employed in the devolved public sector in June 2019, 4,210 (0.8%) less than in June 20183.
• Between June 2018 and June 2019, employment in the devolved public sector decreased in Public Corporations by 14,770 (63.5%)^[3] and increased in Local Government by 6,810 (2.8%) (Cordia services moving back under Glasgow City Council services has contributed to this change), Further Education Colleges by 270 (1.9%), the NHS by 1,360 (0.8%), Other Public Bodies by 300 (1.9%), Civil Service by 1,440 (8.2%), Police and Fire Related Services by 370 (1.3%).
• 58,300 (10.4%) people in the public sector were employed in the reserved public sector in Scotland, 2,900 (5.2%) more than in June 2018.
• Between June 2018 and June 2019, employment within the reserved public sector increased in Other Public Sector by 3,290 (15.7%) and decreased in the Civil Service by 390 (1.6%) and stayed the same for Armed Forces.

About this publication

Major Reclassifications

The estimates of public and private sector employment published in this month’s release have been impacted by the reclassification of Scottish Registered Social Landlords, which are included in the private sector from September 2018 but are included in the public sector from September 2001 to June 2018. This reclassification has resulted in around 15,000 employees who were included in the public sector up until June 2018 being included in the private sector estimates for September 2018 onwards.

An outline of major reclassifications which have taken place in the Scottish public sector since 2013 are outlined here: https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Labour-Market/PublicSectorEmployment/SourcesDef

A separate public sector series excluding the effects of major reclassifications has been included in this publication to show the impact of the reclassifications on the number of people employed in the public sector.

More information is available on the Public Sector Employment Web Section.

National Accounts Classifications

An outline of National Accounts classifications which have taken place in the Scottish public sector since 2015 are outlined here: https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Labour-Market/PublicSectorEmployment/SourcesDef

Public Sector Employment Web section

The Public Sector Employment Web section provides additional information to this National Statistics publication http://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Labour-Market/PublicSectorEmployment

It contains detailed information including:

• Employment levels for public bodies in Scotland for 16-24 year olds (Q1 2013, Q1 2014, Q1 2015, Q1 2016, Q1 2017, Q1 2018 and Q1 2019).
• Local government employment by local authority for the current quarter. A time series of total local government employment from Q1 1999 and by gender from Q1 2011.
• 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.

Background Notes

Statistics prior to Q1 2008 are estimates. These have been calculated using the total UK reserved public sector employment figure and applying to Scotland on a pro-rata basis as regional level data has only been collected from Q1 2008 onwards.

Background notes about the information contained in our PSE series are available at the following web section:

http://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Labour-Market/PublicSectorEmployment/SourcesDef

Next Publication: December 2019