Public sector employment in Scotland: statistics for fourth quarter 2018

3. Devolved Public Sector Employment in Scotland; Headcount

(see Table 4)

Employment in the devolved public sector was 6,050 (1.2%) lower, at 498,200 in December 2018 compared with 504,200 in December 2017.

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 4 shows the size of each group in the devolved public sector as at December 2018.

Chart 4: Breakdown of Devolved Public Sector Employment by Category as at December 2018, Headcount

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

The decrease in the overall headcount in the devolved public sector was due to:

• Employment in Public Corporations falling by 14,770 (63.9%) to 8,000 in December 2018, mainly due to Registered Social Landlords being reclassified to the private sector in the last year;

while:

• Employment levels in Scottish Local Government rose by 6,640 (2.7%) to 250,000 in December 2018 (this was mainly due to Cordia services moving back under Glasgow City Council services);
• Employment in the Devolved Civil Service rose by 930 (5.4%) to 18,200 in December 2018;
• Employment in Other Public Bodies rose by 380 (2.4%) to 15,800 in December 2018;
• Employment levels in the NHS rose by 400 (0.2%) to 163,800 in December 2018^[7]
• Employment in Further Education Colleges rose by 140 (1.0%) to 14,000 in December 2018.
• The number of Police and Fire Service employees rose by 230 (0.8%) to 27,800 in December 2018.

Figure 3: Percentage Change (from December 2017 to December 2018) in the Devolved Public Sector, Headcount