Scottish Government

JOINT STAFFING WATCH SURVEY: JUNE 2001

ISSUED JOINTLY BY THE SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE AND THE CONVENTION OF SCOTTISH LOCAL AUTHORITIES

August 2002

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Figures published today show a year on year increase of 1,227 full-time equivalent staff working in Scottish local authorities, a 0.5 per cent increase between June 2000 and June 2001.

The June 2001 Joint Staffing Watch shows a total of 237,462 full-time equivalent staff, compared with the June 2000 figure of 236,235. This change includes an increase of 1,482 in the category of non-teaching education staff, which includes pre- and early school classroom assistants. There was also a decrease of 3,595 full-time equivalent staff working in Direct Labour and Direct Service Organisations, which was mainly due to transfers of staff to public/private partnerships and the reclassification of staff to other service groups included in the Joint Staffing Watch.

The new Joint Staffing Watch survey, released jointly by the Scottish Executive and COSLA, began in 1996, and can be viewed at www.scotland.gov.uk/jointstaffingwatch

NOTES FOR NEWS EDITORS

1. All figures above are shown to the nearest full-time equivalent. Therefore, figures may not sum to totals due to rounding.
2. Changes in staff numbers may arise as a result of a local authority service being provided by staff who are no longer on the payroll of the authority.
3. The report gives a detailed description of the results of the June 2001 survey, with comparison with earlier periods. It provides information on staffing levels in each council separately by grade of staff and service area. Media representatives can obtain full copies of the report from Jackie Telford on 0131-244-2598.

Contact: Chris Bergin: 0131-244-2967
Internet: www.scotland.gov.uk/jointstaffingwatch

JOINT STAFFING WATCH SURVEY: JUNE 2001

SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION AND JUNE 2001 SUMMARY

1. This joint Scottish Executive / Convention of Scottish Local Authorities statistical press release provides summary information on the number and full-time equivalent (FTE) number of staff employed in Scottish Local Authorities at 9 June 2001.
2. This report contains information on estimated numbers of staff and full-time equivalent numbers of staff within each major local authority service for June 2001. Full-time equivalent numbers are provided analysed by service, by grade of staff, and for each council by service group. Estimates are also provided for full-time equivalent staff numbers employed by local authorities from December 1996. (Publication of the Joint Staffing Watch was delayed to investigate some data quality issues which have now been resolved. In addition to the June 2001 figures, summary figures for 10 March 2001 can be found in Tables 2, 3 and 4 of this report, and the full set of March figures are available on the Scottish Executive website at www.scotland.gov.uk/jointstaffingwatch, or on request from the address at the back of this report.)
3. Caution should be applied when interpreting the information supplied in this report, for the following reasons:

• Differences between councils in staffing levels are influenced by a wide range of factors, including need for the services provided, and the ways in which councils are organised to meet this. Councils have put in place different staffing structures considered most appropriate for their own local circumstances. Differences in staffing levels within individual services will, among other things, reflect these different structures adopted.
• Where authorities provide services through joint arrangements, the staff delivering the service may be grouped with the staff of a lead authority. This is particularly important in interpreting relative numbers of staff in DLO/DSO (Direct Labour Organisation / Direct Service Organisation) services.
• Figures may be revised and authorities may improve their calculation or classification methods (see the technical notes, including paragraph t.4).

The technical notes at the back of the text section of this report provide further background to the information covered by this report.

Overall staffing levels at June 2001 (Table 1)

1. Table 1 shows, for Scotland as a whole, reported details both for full-time and part-time numbers by gender, and estimated full-time equivalent numbers by salary band for June 2001. The table shows an estimated 237,462 full-time equivalent staff employed by Scottish local authorities in June 2001 ( see technical notes t.4-6).

2. SECTION 2: CHANGES IN STAFF LEVELS BY LOCAL AUTHORITY SERVICE (TABLES 2-4)

3. Table 2 shows trends in local authority staffing, by service, since December 1996. Overall, there was a decrease in FTE figures from 239,924 in December 1996 to 233,271 in December 1998. Numbers then rose steadily to 236,235 in June 2000, before falling to 235,233 by March 2001 and then rising to 237,462 by June 2001. These changes will include any seasonal effects and are affected by the types of discontinuity that are described in technical note t.4
4. Table 3 shows the change in total number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff between June 2000 and June 2001, during which time numbers rose by 1,227 to 237,462 (FTE).
5. For specific service groups as shown in Table 3, the largest fall in staffing levels during the year to June 2001 was for DLO/DSO staff (down by 3,595 FTE). This included a decrease of 1,344 (FTE) staff between December 2000 and March 2001, the majority of which can be attributed to staff from North Lanarkshire Council being transferred to a public/private partnership. Most of the remainder of the reduction in DLO/DSO staff between June 2000 and June 2001 is attributable to further transfers of staff to public/private partnerships and the transfer of function and reclassification to other service groups ( see technical note t.5). Between March and June 2001, over 1,000 (FTE) staff employed by Glasgow City Council were transferred from DLO/DSO services to Environmental Services, accounting for the large increase in the number of staff employed in this area. A number of other councils reported increases in the number of DLO/DSO staff during the same period, which were largely attributed to increases in the number of temporary and seasonal staff employed. The transfer and reclassification of staff also provides a partial explanation for the increase of 200 (FTE) staff in Housing, and 225 (FTE) staff in Arts, Sports and Leisure services. The increase of 467 (FTE) staff employed in social work services included a transfer of approximately 100 staff from non-teaching education staff. The largest increase in staffing figures over the year to June 2001 was in the number of non-teaching education staff, which increased by 1,482 (FTE), largely as a result of increases in the number of pre- and early school classroom assistants. The number of teachers (including pre-school teachers) also rose by 501 (FTE), again primarily as a result of increased investment in the pre-school sector. There was also an increase of 477 (FTE) staff in Police and related services. (The way in which teachers, police and staff in other service groups are recorded in the Joint Staffing Watch can differ from other surveys; for more details, see technical note t.6.)
6. Table 4 shows the breakdown of (FTE) staff numbers by salary band (excluding teachers, police and fire service staff) at June 2001, and the change since June 2000. Compared with an overall increase of 0.2 per cent (FTE) for all staff covered by this analysis, there was an increase of 1.3 per cent (FTE) in Band A staff, an increase of 1.5 per cent (FTE) in Band B staff and an increase of 5.6 per cent (FTE) in Band C staff. Numbers of staff not covered within these bands fell by 6.2 per cent (FTE) during the same period. These changes are largely due to the transfer and reclassification of staff, as described in paragraph 7 ( See technical note t.5, and notes t.7 - t.8 for a fuller description of the salary bands).

7. SECTION 3: COMPARATIVE STAFFING LEVELS BY COUNCIL (TABLES 5 - 10)

8. In interpreting these figures it is important to note the general points on interpretation set out in paragraph 3 of the introduction.

9. Full-time equivalent staff numbers by local authority service (Tables 5 - 6 and Chart 1)

10. Tables 5 and 6 show respectively, for June 2001 for each authority, full-time equivalent staff, and full-time equivalent staff per 1,000 population. Chart 1 shows total full-time equivalent staff per 1,000 population. Differences in staffing levels can occur because of different levels of need for local authority services, and because of different ways in which authorities arrange to provide these.

11. Full-time equivalent staff by salary band (Tables 7 - 9)

12. Table 7 shows reported numbers of total full-time equivalent staff (excluding teachers, police, and fire service staff) by salary band for each council for June 2001, while Table 8 shows these expressed per 1,000 population.
13. Band B and Band C staff cover the main groups of professional, technical and clerical staff in authorities, engaged in delivering services.
14. Levels of staff in the 'other' category, which covers mainly staff employed under manual workers terms and conditions of service, tend to vary mainly with the scale of authorities' Direct Labour/Direct Service Organisations.
15. Table 9 shows, for each authority, the number and proportion of non-manual staff within each of the non-manual salary bands, showing authorities ranked by the population of the authority. While there is evidence of a relationship between population and proportion of staff in higher salary bands, there are some variations between authorities of similar size.

16. Staff by salary band by service within each council

17. The set of detailed tables from Table 10(a) to Table 10(k) provide, for each authority, information on the number and proportion of full-time equivalent staff by salary band, within each of the main service categories. They allow comparisons to be made between authorities in the proportions of senior, middle ranking, clerical and manual staff within each service.
18. In assessing the information in the tables, it is particularly important to be cautious in drawing conclusions from percentages in cases where the total numbers of staff are very small. For example the relatively high percentage (20 per cent) of corporate services staff in Orkney in salary band A1 in fact represents only one person from a total of five FTE staff. It is also important to note that differences between authorities within any one service may, in part, reflect differences in the ways in which the authorities are organised to provide these services. For example, in a number of cases, authorities show zero senior manager (i.e. salary band A and above) staff in arts, sport and leisure, and in libraries, museums and galleries. In such cases, these services may be part of a combined service department, and senior manager numbers included within a different service category.

TECHNICAL NOTES

Background to the Joint Staffing Watch

t1 A key purpose of the Joint Staffing Watch Survey is to provide meaningful information on overall local authority staffing levels by service and salary band, and to provide comparative information, particularly on relative levels of senior staff numbers, and of numbers of staff in central and corporate management roles. In particular, the surveys:

• Identify staff numbers within each of 17 separate service categories.
• Provide full-time equivalent staff numbers in each of five salary bands, designed to separately identify senior managers, middle managers and equivalent professionals, clerical staff and staff employed under manual terms and conditions.
• Provide estimates of full-time equivalent staff numbers based on actual hours worked, rather than by applying an FTE conversion factor to part-time.
• Identify staff in authorities' DLO/DSO services as a separate category, rather than grouping DLO/DSO staff with the services they mainly support.

t2 This press release shows full details of staff numbers by salary band for each council within each of the main local authority services. While these detailed tables provide useful comparative information, they must be used with care. Relative percentages based on small total numbers can be misleading. Differences between authorities in staffing levels by grade and service may be due to a number of factors, including different needs for the services provided, and different arrangements within the authority for providing for these needs (for example through different types of joint arrangement). Authorities, themselves, are best placed to address detailed queries on what may lie behind any of the differences shown.

Response to the Joint Staffing Watch

t3 A number of authorities/joint boards experienced difficulties in supplying estimates for the JSW, especially in the earliest surveys.

t4 As in the previous quarters, the figures supplied by authorities for June 2001 have been scrutinised carefully, and oddities queried and, as far as possible, corrected. This process can lead to some revisions to earlier quarters' data. Such revisions are incorporated in the figures contained in this report. For example, in March 2001, Aberdeenshire introduced a new employee recording system, with the result that figures from this quarter are more accurate than those previously supplied. Aberdeenshire figures from previous quarters have been revised to provide consistency over time.

t5 In addition, discontinuities can be caused by improved classification by service, or by transfer of functions. Discontinuities frequently arise in the category DLO/DSO, for example, where staff are reclassified to/from other service groups, or where the service is no longer provided by staff who are on the payroll of the authority. Further, some authorities noted fluctuations (real, but likely to be, to an extent, temporary changes) in staff levels especially for supply teachers and DLO/DSO staff.

t6 Variations in definition can lead to differences arising between the figures produced in the Joint Staffing Watch (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 (e.g., if a permanent teacher on sick leave is replaced by a supply teacher, the School Census would include just one teacher, whereas the JSW is concerned with the number of staff employed by local authorities, and would, therefore, include both).

The salary bands

t7 The purpose of separately distinguishing staff numbers by salary band is to provide a clearer description of relative staffing structures For most of the staff covered, the salary bands used are based on points on the local government employee pay scale. The use of salary bands based on points on this pay scale allows comparisons to be made over time, unaffected by any general increases in pay. The salary bands used in the surveys do not relate directly to salary pay scales under which staff are appointed by local authorities. Where overlap occurs between pay scales and bands used for this survey, staff, as a result of incremental progression, may move into a higher band as recorded by the survey. Care, therefore, requires to be exercised in interpreting movements in band numbers as recorded under this survey.

t8 The salary bands used are defined as follows:-

The Scottish Executive / The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities
August 2002

Enquiries on the Joint Staffing Watch Survey should be addressed to:
Esther Roughsedge
The Scottish Executive
1-G10, Victoria Quay
Edinburgh
EH6 6QQ
Tel. (0131) 244 0439
Email: esther.roughsedge@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

The latest version of the Joint Staffing Watch can be viewed on the Scottish Executive website at: www.scotland.gov.uk/jointstaffingwatch

List of Tables

Table 1: Estimated number and full-time equivalent number of staff employed by Scottish local authorities: June 2001
Table 2: Recent trends in local authority staffing: Full-time equivalent staff numbers by service (i) (ii)
Table 3: Changes in reported total full-time equivalent staff by local authority service (i) (ii)
Table 4: Changes in reported total full-time equivalent staff by salary band (i-iii)
Table 5: Total full-time equivalent staff by service : June 2001 (i)
Table 6: Total full-time equivalent staff per 1,000 population by service : June 2001
Table 7: Full-time equivalent staff (i) by salary band (ii) (iii) in June 2001
Table 8: Full-time equivalent staff (i) per 1,000 population by salary band (ii) (iii): June 2001
Table 9: Number and percentage of non-manual (i) FTE staff by salary band (ii) (iii) : June 2001
Table 10(a): Corporate Services: June 2001 (i)
Table 10(b): Central Support Services: June 2001 (i)
Table 10(c): Planning and Economic Development: June 2001 (i)
Table 10(d): Other Education Staff: June 2001 (i)
Table 10(e): Social Work: June 2001 (i)
Table 10(f): Housing: June 2001 (i)
Table 10(g): Roads & Transport: June 2001 (i)
Table 10(h): Arts, Sport & Leisure: June 2001 (i)
Table 10(i): Libraries, Museums & Galleries: June 2001 (i)
Table 10(j): Environmental Services: June 2001 (i)
Table 10(k): DLO/DSO: June 2001 (i)

Chart 1: Total full-time equivalent staff per 1,000 population: June 2001

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