Public sector employment in Scotland: statistics for second quarter 2019

3. Devolved Public Sector Employment in Scotland; Headcount (see Table 3)

Employment in the devolved public sector was 4,210 (0.8%) lower, at 500,400 in June 2019 compared with 504,600 in June 2018.

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 June 2019.

Chart 4: Breakdown of Devolved Public Sector Employment by Category as at June 2019, Headcount

Source: Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Quarter 2 2019

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

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

• Employment in Public Corporations falling by 14,770 (63.5%) to 8,000 in June 2019, mainly due to Registered Social Landlords being reclassified to the private sector in the last year;

while:

• Employment levels in Scottish Local Government rose by 6,810 (2.8%) to 251,000 in June 2019 (this was mainly due to Cordia services moving back under Glasgow City Council services);
• Employment in the Devolved Civil Service rose by 1,440 (8.2%) to 18,900 in June 2019;
• Employment in Other Public Bodies rose by 300 (1.9%) to 16,300 in June 2019;
• Employment levels in the NHS rose by 1,360 (0.8%) to 163,600 in June 2019^[6];
• Employment in Further Education Colleges rose by 270 (1.9%) to 14,100 in June 2019.
• The number of Police and Fire Service employees rose by 370 (1.3%) to 28,000 in June 2019.

Figure 3: Percentage Change (from June 2018 to June 2019) in the Devolved Public Sector, Headcount^[7]