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Publication - Statistics

Public sector employment in Scotland: statistics for fourth quarter 2016

Published
15 March 2017
Part of
Public sector
ISBN
9781786528513

Statistics based on administrative records and surveys of individual public sector bodies.

View supporting documents Supporting documents

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

Not Seasonally Adjusted

Total Devolved
Public Sector
NHS 6 		Civil Service 8 Police and Fire Services 2 Further Education Colleges 3,5 Other Public Bodies 3,8 Local Government 2,4,7 Public Corporations
Q4 1999 474,400 129,800 14,500 - 15,700 8,600 296,300 9,500
Q4 2010 509,900 158,000 17,700 - 16,800 15,300 295,900 6,200
Q4 2011 489,900 154,400 16,600 - 15,000 14,600 283,100 6,300
Q4 2012 485,300 155,800 16,400 - 13,600 15,100 277,900 6,400
Q4 2013 486,300 158,100 16,700 29,300 13,600 13,700 247,400 7,400
Q4 2014 488,300 160,500 17,300 28,600 13,900 14,100 246,700 7,200
Q4 2015 487,700 161,400 16,800 28,200 13,900 15,200 244,800 7,400
Q4 2016 485,900 162,300 16,800 27,900 13,900 15,300 241,900 7,800
Change on year to:
Q4 2016 -1,780 890 20 -260 -30 80 -2,880 410
% change on year:
Q4 2016 -0.4% 0.5% 0.1% -0.9% -0.2% 0.5% -1.2% 5.5%

Notes:

1. Employment figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred; change on year rounded to the nearest ten; 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 and from Angus Council to Angus Alive on 1st December 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. Prior to Q2 2006, 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.

8. In Q4 2015, Historic Scotland (previously part of the devolved civil service) merged with the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (a non-departmental public body in the other public bodies category) to become Historic Environment Scotland in the Other Public Bodies category.

Contact

Email: Tom Pennock

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