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Rise in frontline NHS and police staff
17/03/2010
The Scottish Government today published the latest public sector employment statistics for Scotland.
The publication, which covers the fourth quarter of 2009, shows:
- Excluding banks now classed as public sector financial institutions, public sector employment fell by 0.5 per cent over the year. This is influenced by the transfer of some Glasgow City Council staff to a new private contracted organisation
- Total public sector employment - including financial institutions - fell by 1.5 per cent since Q4 2008
- Employment in devolved organisations decreased by 0.3 per cent over the year
- The number of NHS staff rose by 1.9 per cent over the year - reflecting a separately recorded rise in the numbers of nursing and midwifery staff, dentists, GPs, and emergency service staff - with police and related services staff up by 3.8 per cent
- Between Q3 2007 and Q4 2009, the number of staff employed in public bodies, if we exclude those employed in the NHS, has reduced by 840, or 2.8 per cent.
Commenting on the publication, Public Sector Employment in Scotland: Q4 2009, Finance Secretary John Swinney said:
"In this challenging climate - with Westminster's cut to next year's Scottish budget of over 500 million pounds - it is vital that Scotland's public sector delivers quality and cost-effective public services. It is encouraging to see another welcome rise in frontline staff working in the NHS and police.
"We are continuing our work to deliver sharper, co-ordinated public services, which are responsive to the challenges which lie ahead. The Scottish Government's Simplification Programme has reduced the number of public bodies from 199 to 161 with that number set to fall to around 120 by 2011.
"It is estimated that projects already delivered through our simplification agenda will save taxpayers 127 million pounds between 2008 and 2013. We expect this will deliver annual recurring savings of 36 million pounds each year thereafter, rising to over 40 million pounds annually through proposals in the Public Services Reform Bill, which includes powers that can help the process and as a result should command the cross party support of those who demand greater efficiencies."
Devolved organisations refers to public authorities which are the responsibility of the Scottish Government or Scottish Parliament. This includes the core Scottish Government and Agencies, local authorities, Police and Fire Services, NHS, Non-Departmental Public Bodies, Non-Ministerial Departments, Public Corporations, Ombudsmen and Commissioners and other significant national bodies.
The Scottish Government is committed to simplifying the public sector landscape by bringing together organisations with similar skills, expertise and processes. The Scottish Government published a baseline list of 199 national public sector organisations and set out proposals as part of the Simplification Programme to reduce this number by 25 per cent by 2011.