Public Sector Employment In Scotland Statistics For 4th Quarter 2021

3. Devolved Public Sector Employment in Scotland; Headcount

(see Table 3)

Employment in the devolved public sector was 15,660 (3.0%) higher at 534,400 in December 2021 compared with 518,700 in December 2020.

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).

Chart 3 shows the size of each group in the devolved public sector as at December 2021. Local Government and NHS employ the largest proportion of employees 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 4 2021

The increase over the year in the overall devolved public sector headcount was due to (all changes are given from December 2020 to December 2021):

• Employment levels in the NHS increasing by 8,080 (4.7%) to 180,700^[7];
• Employment in the Devolved Civil Service increasing by 2,810 (13.0%) to 24,400 ^[8]; and
• Employment in Scottish Local Government increasing by 5,560 (2.2%) to 259,000;

while:

• Employment in Public Corporations decreased by -140 (-1.0%) to 13,000;
• Employment in the Police and Fire Services decreased by -140 (-0.5%) to 28,100;
• Employment in Further Education Colleges fell by -110 (-0.9%) to 13,200; and
• Employment in Other Public Bodies fell by -390 (-2.5%) to 15,300.