KEY POINTS
The statistics in this release are based on administrative records and surveys of individual public sector bodies carried out by the Scottish Government and the Office for National Statistics ( ONS). The publication includes information on public sector employment in Scotland with distinctions made for employment in devolved bodies and reserved bodies (located in Scotland). This is the official source of information on total employment in the public sector in Scotland.
Some of the key points are as follows
- In Q4 2009 there were 613,400 people employed in the Public Sector in Scotland, a decrease of 9,600 (1.5%) since Q4 2008.
- There were 2,474 thousand people in employment in Scotland in Q4 2009 a decrease of 2.3% from 2,533 thousand in Q4 2008. In Q4 2009 public sector employment accounted for 24.8% of total employment, up from 24.6% in Q4 2008 and 23.1% in Q4 1999 (In 1999 the banking sector was not included in the public sector).
- Of the total 613,400 public sector employment in Scotland, 506,000 (82.5%) derives from public bodies devolved to Scotland. 106,900 (17.4%) relates to reserved public sector employment and 520 (0.1%) relates to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body.
- Total employment in the devolved public sector had decreased from 507,700 in Q4 2008 to 506,000 in Q4 2009. A decrease of 1,700 (0.3%). This is largely accounted for by a decrease in local government employment. Total local government employment excluding police and fire decreased by 8,400 (3%). This was driven by the transfer of some local government staff to a privately contracted organisation.
- In the last year the number of NHS staff have increased by 1.9% to 163,000. Employment in 'Other public bodies' have also increased. However this is largely related to the inclusion of the Scottish Agricultural College in this series from Q2 2009 onward.
- Employment in the reserved public sector (with a presence in Scotland) has decreased by 7,900 staff (6.8%) since Q4 2008. This was related to the decrease in employment in public sector financial institutions over the year decreasing by 6,800 staff (15.6%) to 36,800.
- If banks were not included in the series total public sector employment would have decreased by 2,800 (0.5%), instead of 9,600 (1.5%) over the year. Employment in the reserved public sector in Scotland would have decreased by 1,100 (1.5%) instead of 7,900 (6.8%) over the year. Financial institutions are not included in the devolved public sector total.
Public sector employment statistics will be published every quarter and the release timetable will be pre-announced in National Statistics Updates. The next quarterly release will be published on the 16 June 2010. Quarterly public sector employment statistics for the UK can be found on the UK Statistics Authority website at www.statistics.gov.uk