This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Joint Staffing Watch
15/04/2004
Figures published today show a year on year increase of 4,734 full-time equivalent staff working in Scottish local authorities, a two per cent increase between December 2001 and December 2002.
The December 2002 Joint Staffing Watch shows a total of 244,393 full-time equivalent staff compared with the December 2001 figure of 239,659.
The Joint Staffing Watch and other Scottish Executive Surveys indicate that these reported increases are primarily 'front line' staff such as teachers and social workers and staff directly supporting them.
Over the year to December 2002 there have been increases in the Social Work service group (up by 2,042 FTE), which includes professional social workers and home helps and an increase of 1,077 FTE Non-Teaching Education Staff which includes education support staff and youth workers.
Increases were also reported in the number of teachers (661 FTE) and the number of police officers and their support staff (466 FTE).
Variations in definitions can lead to apparent differences between the figures produced in the JSW, and those published elsewhere. For example, the teacher figures recorded in the JSW include pre-school teachers, whereas those included in the School Census do not; figures for pre-school teachers are collected and published elsewhere. In addition, the School Census covers the number of teachers working during a certain week, whereas the JSW covers those in paid employment. This difference affects the way in which supply teacher cover is recorded.
A decrease of 1,057 full-time equivalent staff working in Environmental Services over the year to December 2002 was a result of the reclassification and transfer of staff between service groups at one local authority. This transfer of staff partly explains the increase in the number of FTE staff employed by Direct Labour/Service Organisation (up by 534 FTE staff).
The new Joint Staffing Watch survey, released jointly by the Scottish Executive and COSLA, began in 1996.
All figures above are shown to the nearest full-time equivalent. Therefore, figures may not sum to totals due to rounding.
Changes in staff numbers may arise as a result of a local authority service being provided by staff that are no longer on the payroll of the authority.
The report gives a detailed description of the results of the December 2002 survey, with comparison with earlier periods. It provides information on staffing levels in each council separately by grade of staff and service area.
"A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century", a joint agreement between COSLA, the Scottish Executive and teachers unions/organisations, contains a commitment to increase the number of support staff in schools by approximately the equivalent of 3,500 to reduce the administrative burden on teachers. This agreement was operational from April 1, 2001.
"A Partnership for a Better Scotland" commits Scottish Ministers to increase the number of police officers on operational duty in every police force and also to improve on the number of overall level of police numbers. Additional funding has been made available to enable police forces to achieve these aims.