Public sector employment in Scotland: statistics for second quarter 2020

3. Devolved Public Sector Employment in Scotland; Headcount

(see Table 3)

Employment in the devolved public sector was 11,820 (2.4%) higher, at 512,100 in June 2020 compared with 500,300 in June 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 June 2020.

Source: Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Quarter 2 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:

• The number of Police and Fire Service employees rising by 260 (0.9%) to 28,300 in June 2020;
• Employment levels in Scottish Local Government rising by 3,100 (1.2%) to 253,000 in June 2020;
• Employment levels in the NHS rising by 7,960 (4.9%) to 171,600 in June 2020;^[4]
• Employment in the Devolved Civil Service rising by 1,350 (6.8%) to 21,400 in June 2020;

while:

• Employment in Public Corporations fell by 100 (1.2%) to 8,000 in June 2020;
• Employment in Further Education Colleges fell by 210 (1.5%) to 13,800 in June 2020;
• Employment in Other Public Bodies fell by 540 (3.3%) to 15,800 in June 2020.