Scottish Government

SECTION 2: DEVOLVED PUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYMENT

This section focuses on employment in public bodies which are the devolved responsibility of the Scottish Government or Scottish Parliament. It consists of:

Summary

Chart 3: Breakdown of devolved public sector employment in Scotland, headcount, Q4 2009

• In quarter 4 (Q4) 2009 there were 506,000 people employed in Scottish devolved public bodies. This is a decrease of 1,700 (0.3%) since Q4 2008.
• This decrease is due to the transfer of some local government staff to a privately contracted organisation. Number of local government staff decreased by 8,400 (3%). The largest increase in staff was in the NHS where staff increased by 3,100 (1.9%). There was also an increase in other public bodies of 1,700. It should be noted this was due to the inclusion of the Scottish Agricultural College in the series.
• Of total (613,400) public sector employment in Scotland, 506,000 (82.5%) derives from bodies devolved to Scotland. The remaining 106,900 (17.4%) relates to reserved public sector employment and 520 (0.1%) relates to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body.
• Devolved public sector bodies currently account for 20.5% of total employment in Scotland. This has increased from 20% in Q4 2008.

Chart 4: Employment in Scottish devolved public bodies and UK wide public bodies, Headcount, 1999-2009

Civil service employment

• The total number of civil servants (including both permanent and casual staff) employed in Scotland was 17,500 in Q4 2009 ( Table 2). This includes those working in the Scottish Administration, comprising Scottish Government core departments, Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service, Scottish Government Agencies and Non Ministerial Departments of the Scottish Administration (General Register Office, Registers of Scotland, and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator).
• Total devolved civil service employment has increased by 600 (3.4%) since Q4 2008 and increased by 900 (5.7%) since Q4 2007.
• Non Ministerial Departments form part of the Scottish Administration but not the Scottish Government. In Q4 2009 there were 15,400 permanent staff employed by the Scottish Government, comprising Scottish Government core departments, Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service and Scottish Government Agencies ( Table 6). This is an increase of 3.4% since Q4 2008. Employment levels are presented separately for the Scottish Prison Service and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.
• As part of the Scottish Government's Simplification Programme, a number of agencies have been absorbed into core Scottish Government departments. This accounts for increases in employment in Scottish Government core departments over the year from Q4 2008 to Q4 2009 ( Table 6 and 8). This increase includes staff transferred from Fisheries Research Services, Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency and The Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland. (See background note 16 for further details)
• As a result of this staff movement figures for Scottish Government ( SG) core staff alone are not comparable over the year or historically back to Q3 2007. This is because the SG core now includes staff who were previously classified as agency staff.
  
• In Q4 2009, there were 1,700 permanent staff employed by the General Register Office, Registers of Scotland, and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator. The same number as in Q4 2008 ( Tables 6 and 8).

Chart 5: Breakdown of devolved civil service in Scotland, Q4 2009
Permanent staff

Devolved non-departmental public bodies ( NDPBs), public corporations and other public bodies

• Changes in the number of staff employed by NDPBs, public corporations and other public bodies are caused by changes in the structure and staffing of individual organisations as well as the overall number of organisations falling within this category at any one time.
• The total number of staff working in Scottish devolved NDPBs, public corporations and other public bodies was 20,100 in Q4 2009 ( Table 2). This is an increase of 10.6%, 2000 since Q4 2008. This increase in the last year is due to the inclusion of new 'other public bodies' including the Scottish Agricultural college. (See background note 17 for further details)
• In Q4 2009 there were:
• 4,400 headcount staff employed by devolved Public Corporations, no change since Q4 2008.
• 12,900 headcount staff employed by devolved NDPBs. This is an increase of 1.7% since Q4 2008. It should be noted that Scottish Screen was included as an NDPB for the first time in Q3 2009. This is in line with the UK public sector estimates produced by ONS.
• 2,800 staff included in other public bodies. This was 160% increase. Due to the inclusion of 6 new other public bodies from Q2 2009.
• The increase in staff employed in NDPBs between Q4 2006 and Q4 2008 is due to movement of staff from police forces to the Scottish Police Services Authority (an NDPB). The local authority figure for police and related services decreased in this period.

Chart 6: Employment in devolved public corporations, devolved NDPBs and devolved other public bodies in Scotland, Headcount, 1999-2009

Local government

• Total headcount employment in Local Government (excluding Police, Fire and related services) was 274,700 in Q4 2009. This figure comprises: 63,600 teachers; 51,800 other education staff; 54,800 social work staff and 104,400 other staff ( Table 10).
• In Q4 2009 total employment in police and related services was 24,800 and total employment in fire and related services was 5,900.
• The number of teachers employed within Local Government has increased by 5.1% since Q4 1999 and decreased by 1.1% since Q4 2008.
• Other Education staff within Local Government has increased by 41.7% since Q4 1999 and decreased by 1.1% over the year. Other Education staff include other staff within schools such as classroom assistants, music instructors, laboratory assistants, library staff, clerical staff etc.
• The number of police and related services staff has increased by 23.1% since Q4 1999 and increased by 3.8% since Q4 2008.
• A number of central services provided to the Scottish police forces transferred to the new Scottish Police Services Authority ( SPSA) from April 2007. As the SPSA is a Non-Departmental Public Body, staff employed in SPSA are included under NDPBs and not included in the total for Police and Related Services staff. A level shift in the data can be seen between Q1 2007 and Q3 2007 following the movement of staff to the SPSA on its inception. NDPB staffing numbers increase and Police and related services staffing numbers decrease between Q1 2007 and Q2 2007.
• The number of fire and related services staff has increased by 4.7% since Q4 1999 and increased by 2.0% since Q4 2008.
• The number of social work staff working within local government has increased by 9.1% since Q4 1999 and decreased by 4.9% since Q4 2008. The number of other Local Government staff has decreased by 14.9% since Q4 1999 and decreased by 3.9% since Q4 2008. Both these categories are affected by the movement of staff from local government to the private sector. Although staff continue to perform local government roles.

Chart 7: Breakdown of employment in Local Government in Scotland, 1999-2009