Public sector employment in Scotland: statistics for second quarter 2019

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

The devolved public sector headcount was 0.8% lower and the reserved public sector was 5.2% higher in June 2019, compared with June 2018. The Civil Service saw the largest increase (8.2%) in the devolved sector, while Public Corporations decreased by 63.5% due to Registered Social Landlords being reclassified to the private sector. In the reserved public sector, Other Public Sector was 15.7% higher than in June 2018, leading to the overall increase in headcount in the reserved public sector.

Figure 2: Make-up of the Scottish Public Sector as at June 2019, Headcount^[5]

Source: Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Quarter 2 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 1,310 (0.2%) between June 2018 and June 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 June 2018 to June 2019) in Public Sector Employment by Devolved and Reserved Responsibility, Headcount

Source: Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Quarter 2 2019

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