Public sector employment in Scotland: statistics for fourth quarter 2013

Employment snapshot statistics based on administrative records and surveys of individual public sector bodies.


Table 8: Total devolved public sector employment by sector; Scotland, Full-time equivalent

Not Seasonally Adjusted

Total Devolved
Public Sector

NHS
Civil Service Police and Fire Services Further Education Colleges Other Public Bodies Local Government Public Corporations
Q4 1999 387,100 106,900 14,000 11,500 8,000 237,600 9,200
Q4 2007 438,700 131,300 15,800 12,400 14,300 258,300 6,600
Q4 2008 439,800 133,500 16,200 12,300 14,300 257,000 6,400
Q4 2009 437,900 136,700 16,700 11,700 14,700 252,000 6,100
Q4 2010 427,800 134,300 16,700 12,300 14,200 244,500 5,900
Q4 2011 412,500 131,300 15,800 11,100 13,500 234,800 6,000
Q4 2012 411,100 132,500 15,600 10,900 13,500 232,300 6,200
Q4 2013 412,400 135,000 15,900 28,400 10,500 12,500 203,200 6,900
Change on year to:
Q4 2013 1,300 2,500 200 28,400 -400 -1,000 -29,100 700
% change on year:
Q4 2013 0.3% 1.9% 1.6% n/a -3.8% -7.4% -12.5% 11.2%

Notes:

1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred; percentages are based on unrounded figures.

2. Police and Fire Reform: Some of the change on year estimates will be affected by reclassification of organisations as a result of reforms to the police and fire services in Scotland. From Q2 2013 Police and Fire Services have been reclassified as central government rather than local government. This reclassification has had an impact on the staffing numbers in both these categories. Also, from Q2 2013 staffing levels for the Scottish Police Authority (previously Scottish Police Services Authority) are included within the Police and Fire Services category in the table above (previously included in other public bodies).

3. In April 2013 the Scottish Agricultural College ( SAC) merged with 3 colleges to form Scotland's Rural College. This new organisation is classified as a public body (as the SAC was). This has resulted in staffing levels moving from the Further Education to Other Public Bodies categories to reflect the merger of these organisations.

4. Public sector financial institutions include Northern Rock (classified to the public sector from Q4 2007), Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc, HBOS/Lloyds Banking Group plc (both classified to the public sector from Q4 2008) Lloyds TSB Commercial Banking. Those organisation classified as Public Sector Financial Institutions and SIC 64.

5. A number of local government staff have transferred to arms length organisations which are part of the private sector under National Accounts definitions. For example, staff transferred from Glasgow City Council to Cordia Limited Liability Partnership from 1 April 2009 thus explaining the decrease in local government employment between 2008 and 2009.

6. Information for further education colleges in Scotland is based on collected information from Q4 2010. The method used to create the back series is detailed in the background notes of this publication.

7. From Q4 2011, NHS has responsibility for employing Healthcare staff within prisons. Previously, these people were employed directly by the Scottish Prison Service ( SPS). Also, In Q2 2012 1,491 & 1062.1 WTE headcount staff transferred from Highland Council to NHS Highland as a result of the move to integrated health and social care services.

8. Detailed tables showing a full time series of data - all quarters back to Q1 1999 - are available to download from the Public Sector Employment Websection: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Labour-Market/PublicSectorEmployment

Contact

Email: Susanne Ross

Phone: 0300 244 4000 – Central Enquiry Unit

The Scottish Government
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG

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