Public Sector Employment in Scotland Statistics for 3rd Quarter 2023

Devolved Public Sector Employment in Scotland; Headcount

The devolved public sector includes:

• Devolved Civil Service
• 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).

Employment in the devolved public sector was 542,800 in September 2023. This is 6,780 (1.3%) higher than in September 2022.  This increase is largely due to increases in the NHS of 3,530 (2.0%) and Local Government of 2,340 (0.9%).

Figure 4: Local Government and NHS employ the largest number of people in the Devolved Public Sector

Breakdown of Devolved Public Sector employment (Headcount) in Scotland as at September 2023

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

Source: Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Quarter 3 2023

The increase over the year in the devolved public sector headcount was due to the following changes (changes are given from September 2022 to September 2023):

• employment in NHS increased by 3,530 (2.0%) to 183,900 [1]
• employment in Local Government increased by 2,340 (0.9%) to 261,000
• employment in Devolved Civil Service increased by 710 (2.6%) to 27,900
• employment in Other Public Bodies increased by 460 (2.1%) to 22,100
• employment in Public Corporations increased by 450 (5.8%) to 8,000
• employment in Police and Fire Related Services increased by 130 (0.5%) to 27,700

while:

• employment in Further Education Colleges decreased by 840 (-6.5%) to 12,100

Figure 5: Public Corporations had the largest percentage increase over the year across the Devolved Public Sector
Change in Devolved Public Sector employment (Headcount) in Scotland from September 2022 to September 2023

Source: Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Quarter 3 2023

[1] A detailed breakdown of NHS employment by staffing group was published by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) on 5 December 2023, with data relating to 30 September 2023 in their NHS Scotland official workforce statistics publication