PUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYMENT IN SCOTLAND STATISTICS FOR 4th QUARTER 2015

3. Devolved Public Sector Employment in Scotland; Headcount (see Table 4)

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).

The number of people employed in the devolved public sector has decreased by 500 (-0.1%) over the last year, from 488,300 in Q4 2014 to 487,800 in Q4 2015. Chart 4 shows the composition of the devolved public sector as at Q4 2015.

Chart 4: Breakdown of Devolved Public Sector Employment by Category, Headcount, Q4 2015

Over the year:

Employment in Scottish Local Government decreased by 1,900 (-0.8%) over the year to 244,800 in Q4 2015. This is mainly due to staff transferring to arms' length external organisations (ALEOs) which are part of the private sector. On 1^st April 2015, 754 staff transferred from Scottish Borders Council to SB Cares, 255 staff transferred from East Renfrewshire Council to East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure Limited on 2^nd July 2015 and on 1^st December 2015, 344 staff transferred from Angus Council to Angus Alive.

Employment in the NHS increased by 900 (+0.6%) over the year to 161,400 in Q4 2015. A detailed breakdown on this information by staffing group was published by ISD on the 1^st March 2016: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/

The number of Police and Fire Service employees decreased by 400 (-1.5%), from 28,600 in Q4 2014 to 28,200 in Q4 2015.

The devolved civil service saw a decrease of 500 (-3.0%) in employment between Q4 2014 and Q4 2015.

Employment in Further Education colleges increased by 100 (+0.5%) to 13,900 in Q4 2015.

Employment in public corporations increased by 200 (+3.0%) over the year to Q4 2015, increasing from 7,200 in Q4 2014 to 7,400 in Q4 2015.

Over the year, employment in other public bodies increased by 1,200 (8.7%). This was mainly due to the creation of Historic Environment Scotland, a non-departmental public body.