Public Sector Employment in Scotland Statistics for 1st Quarter 2023

3. Devolved Public Sector Employment in Scotland; Headcount

(see Table 3)

The devolved public sector includes:

• Devolved Civil Service
• 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).

Employment in the devolved public sector was 542,200 in March 2023. This is 2,880 (0.5%) higher than in March 2022. This increase is largely due to an increase in Local Government of 1,970 (0.8%) and growth in Social Security Scotland.

Chart 3 shows the size of each group in the devolved public sector as at March 2023. Local Government and NHS employ the largest proportion of people in the devolved public sector.

Note: Totals may not equal the sum of the individual parts due to rounding

Source: Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Quarter 1 2023

The increase over the year in the devolved public sector headcount was due to the following changes (changes are given from March 2022 to March 2023):

• employment in Local Government increased by 1,970 (0.8%) to 263,000^[8]
• employment in Devolved Civil Service increased by 880 (3.3%) to 27,600
• employment in Public Corporations increased by 760 (5.8%) to 14,000
• employment in Other Public Bodies increased by 420 (2.7%) to 15,800

while:

• employment in NHS decreased by 770 (-0.4%) to 181,000
• employment in Further Education Colleges decreased by 330 (-2.4%) to 13,100^[9]
• employment in Police and Fire Related Services decreased by 50 (-0.2%) to 27,700