PUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYMENT IN SCOTLAND STATISTICS FOR 4TH QUARTER 2014

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 December 2014. The publication includes information on public sector employment in Scotland with distinctions made for employment in devolved bodies and reserved bodies (located in Scotland).


Table 2: Public sector employment by National Accounts Sector Classification; Scotland, Headcount
Not Seasonally Adjusted

Total Public Sector Total Central Government National Accounts Central Government Categories Local Government4,6 Public Corporations2 Public Sector Financial Institutions2 Public Corporations & Public Sector Financial Institutions2,3
NHS8 Civil Service Police and Fire4 Further Education Colleges5,7 Armed Forces Other Public Bodies5
Q4 1999 551,200 223,500 129,800 48,300 - 15,700 15,100 14,600 296,300 31,300 - 31,300
Q4 2008r 650,100 262,600 157,400 49,800 - 16,900 12,000 26,400 313,600 31,300 - 31,300
Q4 2009r 637,600 265,700 160,800 51,100 - 16,000 11,900 25,800 305,800 30,500 35,700 66,200
Q4 2010r 618,700 261,400 158,000 48,700 - 16,800 12,300 25,700 295,500 28,400 33,500 61,900
Q4 2011r 593,400 252,400 154,400 46,900 - 15,000 11,600 24,500 282,800 26,800 31,400 58,200
Q4 2012r 583,000 250,300 155,800 45,200 - 13,600 10,900 24,900 277,700 26,300 28,700 55,000
Q4 2013r 569,200 279,400 158,100 44,400 29,300 13,600 10,900 23,100 247,100 11,900 30,800 42,700
Q4 2014r 545,100 279,100 160,500 42,700 28,600 13,900 9,700 23,700 246,500 * * 19,400
Change on year to:
Q4 2014 -24,100 -200 2,400 -1,600 -800 300 -1,100 600 -500 n/a n/a -23,300
% change on year:
Q4 2014 -4.2% -0.1% 1.5% -3.6% -2.6% 2.3% -10.4% 2.5% -0.2% n/a n/a -54.5%

r - Revision to figures due to reclassifications
Notes:
1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred. "-" denotes blank entries and "*" denotes entries that have been suppressed for disclosure reasons.
2. Due to the recent reclassification of Lloyds Banking Group plc from public sector financial institutions to the private sector, a new category has been created combining public corporations with public sector financial institutions to ensure employment figures are not disclosed. Both categories have been merged to produce a backseries prior to the reclassification to allow for calculation of year on year changes.
3. Employment over the year in public corporations & public sector financial institutions has been largely affected by the reclassification of Lloyds Banking Group plc. (and subsidiaries), as well as Royal Mail plc. and Direct Line Group plc.
4. 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).
5. 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).
6. 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 Glasgow City Council to Cordia Limited Liability Partnership from 1 April 2009 thus explaining the decrease in local government employment between 2008 and 2009.
7. Information for further education colleges in Scotland is based on actual information from Q4 2010. The method used to create the back series is detailed in the background notes of this publication.
8. 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 2011 1,491 & 1,062 FTE headcount staff transferred from Highland Council to NHS Highland as a result of the move to integrated health and social care services.
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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