MAIN POINTS
SECTION 1
TOTAL PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR EMPLOYMENT IN SCOTLAND
Headcount
- In quarter 2 (Q2) 2009, there were 614,700 people employed in the public sector. This includes employment in local government, core Scottish Government, Scottish Government Agencies, Non Ministerial Departments and devolved public bodies in Scotland as well as employment in UK Government Departments and UK wide public bodies with a presence in Scotland.
- There were 1,866,900 people employed in the private sector in Scotland.
- Total public sector employment has increased by 87,400 (16.6%) since Q2 1999 and increased by 38,400 (6.7%) since Q2 2008.
- Total public sector employment currently accounts for 24.8% of total employment in Scotland. This has increased from 23.1% in Q2 1999 and increased from 22.7% in Q2 2008.
Impact of Public Sector Financial Institutions
Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc, Lloyds Banking Group plc and Northern Rock plc
- The large increase in public sector employment over the year is caused by the reclassification of RBS and Lloyds Banking Group as public corporations. If we exclude public sector financial institutions 1 from the series, there would be 572,200 people employed in the public sector, representing 23.1% of total employment in Scotland. Excluding these banking groups, public sector employment would have decreased by 4,200 (0.7%) over the year.
- The public sector financial institutions are classified as UK-wide public corporations as they are the responsibility of the UK Government. Hence the inclusion of these banking groups has no impact on the estimates for devolved public sector employment which is the responsibility of the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliament. Commentary on the trends of devolved public sector employment can be found in section 2.
Chart 1: Total Public Sector and Private Sector Employment in Scotland, Headcount, 1999-2009
Chart 2: Breakdown of Total Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Headcount, Q2 2009
Note:
1. Devolved public bodies includes devolved public corporations, devolved NDPBs and devolved other public bodies
2. UK wide public bodies includes UK wide public corporations, UK wide NDPBs and UK wide other public bodies with a presence in Scotland.