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Publication - Statistics

PUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYMENT IN SCOTLAND STATISTICS FOR 2nd QUARTER 2015

Published
16 September 2015
ISBN
9781785446719

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 June 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).

View supporting documents Supporting documents

Table 4: Total devolved public sector employment by sector; Scotland, Headcount

Not Seasonally Adjusted
  Total Devolved
Public Sector
NHS6 		Civil Service Police and Fire Services2 Further Education Colleges3,5 Other Public Bodies3 Local Government2,4,7 Public Corporations8
Q2 1999 470,900 129,100 14,600 - 15,700 8,500 293,500 9,500
Q2 2009 522,100 159,300 17,500 - 16,900 15,800 306,300 6,300
Q2 2010 517,900 160,100 17,700 - 16,000 15,800 301,900 6,400
Q2 2011 498,500 155,300 17,000 - 15,900 14,800 289,000 6,400
Q2 2012 489,000 154,900 16,600 - 14,500 14,600 282,000 6,500
Q2 2013 486,000 156,600 16,700 30,200 13,400 14,000 248,100 7,000
Q2 2014 487,600 159,100 17,200 29,000 13,500 13,900 247,000 8,100
Q2 2015 487,500 160,600 17,700 28,300 13,900 14,200 245,700 7,100
Change on year to:
Q2 2015 -200 1,600 500 -600 400 300 -1,300 -1,000
% change on year:
Q2 2015 0.0% 1.0% 2.8% -2.2% 3.1% 2.3% -0.5% -12.7%

Notes:
1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred; percentages are based on unrounded figures. "-" denotes blank entries.
2. Police and Fire Reform: From Q2 2013 Police and Fire Services have been reclassified as central government rather than local government (as their predecessors were). All police staff are employed by the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) whether deployed with the SPA or with the Police Service of Scotland. Although the SPA is an ’Other Public Body’ to avoid duplication and ensure comprehensive numbers are reported for the Police and Fire category, from Q2 2013 all police staff have been included within the Police and Fire category (and not in the Other Public Bodies category).
3. In October 2012 the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) merged with 3 colleges to form Scotland's Rural College. This new organisation is classified as a public body as the SAC was. This has resulted in staffing levels moving from the Further Education to Other Public Bodies categories to reflect the merger of these organisations. Although the SPA is an ’Other Public Body’ to avoid duplication and ensure comprehensive numbers are reported for the Police and Fire category, from Q2 2013 all police staff have been included within the Police and Fire category (and not in the Other Public Bodies category).
4. A number of local government staff have transferred to arms length organisations which are part of the private sector under National Accounts definitions. For example, staff transferrred from Scottish Borders Council to SB Cares on 1st April 2015 thus explaining part of the decrease in local government employment.
5. Information for further education colleges in Scotland is based on collected information from Q4 2010. The method used to create the back series is detailed in the background notes of this publication.
6. From Q4 2011, NHS has responsibility for employing Healthcare staff within prisons.  Previously, these people were employed directly by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS). Also, In Q2 2012 1,491 & 1062.1 FTE headcount staff transferred from Highland Council to NHS Highland as a result of the move to integrated health and social care services.
7. Scottish Borders Council headcount and FTE figures do not include Casual/Relief employees who were paid in the reference period. This means that these figures underestimate the true headcount and FTE for Scottish Borders Council. This will be resolved upon receipt of revised figures from Scottish Borders Council.
8. Over the last year, employment in public corporations decreased mainly due to people no longer being employed as part of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.
9. Detailed tables showing a full time series of data - all quarters back to Q1 1999 - are available to download from the Public Sector Employment Websection:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Labour-Market/PublicSectorEmployment

Contact

Email: Claire Gordon

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