Public Sector Employment In Scotland Statistics For 3rd Quarter 2021

3. Devolved Public Sector Employment in Scotland; Headcount

(see Table 3)

Employment in the devolved public sector was 14,230 (2.8%) higher at 529,800 in September 2021 compared with 515,600 in September 2020.

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 3 shows the size of each group in the devolved public sector as at September 2021. Local Government and NHS employ the largest proportion of employees in the devolved public sector.

Source: Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Quarter 3 2021 Note: Totals may not equal the sum of the individual parts due to rounding

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

• Employment levels in the NHS increasing by 8,730 (5.1%) to 179,300 in September 2021^[5];
• Employment in the Devolved Civil Service increasing by 2,060 (9.6%) to 23,500 in September 2021^[6]; and
• Employment in Scottish Local Government increasing by 4,670 (1.8%) to 257,000 in September 2021;

while:

• Employment in Public Corporations decreased by -520 (-3.8%) to 13,000 in September 2021;
• Employment in the Police and Fire Services decreased by -50 (-0.2%) to 28,200 in September 2021;
• Employment in Further Education Colleges fell by -290 (-2.2%) to 13,200 in September 2021; and
• Employment in Other Public Bodies fell by -380 (-2.4%) to 15,300 in September 2021.