Public Sector Employment in Scotland - Statistics for 1st Quarter 2015

The statistics in this release are based on administrative records and surveys of individual public sector bodies carried out by the Scottish Government and the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This is a snapshot of employment as at March 2015. The publication includes information on public sector employment in Scotland with distinctions made for employment in devolved bodies and reserved bodies (located in Scotland).


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 risen by 2,300 (+0.5%) over the year to Q1 2015, increasing from 487,400 in Q1 2014 to 489,700. Chart 4 shows the composition of the devolved public sector as at Q1 2015.

Chart 4: Breakdown of Devolved Public Sector Employment by Category, Headcount, Q1 2015

Chart 4: Breakdown of Devolved Public Sector Employment by Category, Headcount, Q1 2015

Over the year:

Employment in Scottish Local Government increased by 300 (+0.1%) over the year to 248,300 in Q1 2015.

The number of Police and Fire Service employees decreased by 300 (-1.0%), from 28,700 in Q1 2014 to 28,400 in Q1 2015.

Employment in Further Education colleges increased by 300 (+2.0%) to 14,000 in Q1 2015.

Employment in the NHS increased by 2,000 (+1.2%) over the year to 160,700 in Q1 2015. A detailed breakdown on this information by staffing group was published by ISD on the 2nd June 2015. http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/

The devolved civil service saw an increase of 500 (+2.8%) in employment between Q1 2014 and Q1 2015.

Employment in public corporations decreased by 600 (-7.7%) over the year to Q1 2015, decreasing from 7,400 in Q1 2014 to 6,900 in Q1 2015. This is mainly due to people no longer being employed as part of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Contact

Email: Claire Gordon

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