Public sector employment in Scotland: statistics for fourth quarter 2018

2. Public Sector Employment by Devolved and Reserved Responsibility; Headcount

(see Tables 3, 4 and 5)

The devolved public sector headcount was 1.2% lower and the reserved public sector was 1.4% lower in December 2018, compared with December 2017. The Civil Service saw the largest increase (5.4%) in the devolved sector, while Public Corporations decreased by 63.9% due to Registered Social Landlords being reclassified to the private sector. Reserved Public Bodies were 5.2% higher than in December 2017, with decreases in the Civil Service, Public Corporations and Public Sector Financial Institutions and Armed Forces leading to the overall reduction in headcount in the reserved public sector.

The devolved public sector covers those bodies which are the responsibility of the Scottish Government or Scottish Parliament while the reserved public sector in Scotland covers those bodies for which the UK Government has ministerial responsibility.

Figure 2: Make-up of the Scottish Public Sector as at December 2018, Headcount^[6]

Source: Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Quarter 4 2018

Changes in the devolved and reserved public sector are explored in more detail in sections 3 and 4 respectively.

Chart 3 below shows that the overall public sector in Scotland decreased by 6,860 (1.2%) between December 2017 and December 2018, and how this is split between the devolved and reserved public sector. Chart 3 also shows the estimated impact of removing major reclassifications from the series.

Chart 3: Annual Change (from December 2017 to December 2018) in Public Sector Employment by Devolved and Reserved Responsibility, Headcount

Source: Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Quarter 4 2018
Note: Totals may not equal the sum of individual parts due to rounding