Local Government Employment
This section provides a summary of local government employment for Scotland and by Local Authority.
Total employment in Local Government (including Scottish Local Authorities, Police Forces, Fire Boards, Valuation Joint Boards, and Regional Transport Partnerships) was 283,500 in Q4 2011. This was a decrease of 12,000 (4.1%), down from 295,500 (in Q4 2010).
Quarterly time series of local government employment is available in the web tables.
Based on Headcount employment
Total employment in Local Government (excluding Police, Fire and related services) was 254,100 in Q4 2011.
In Q4 2011 total employment in police and related services was 23,900 and total employment in fire and related services was 5,600.
Quarterly time series of local government employment is available in the web tables.
Local Government by Service Group
After a user-consultation process the Joint Staffing Watch data collection by service group was discontinued from Q2 2011 data collection. The data collection now only collects overall staff figures. Official data sources providing information for service groups previously collected as part of the JSW are as follows:
Social work
The official source of statistics on social work employment shows that there were 41,062 whole time equivalent (WTE) staff employed by Scottish Local Authority Social Services in October 2010. However, as a result of its new integrated Children's Services, Scottish Borders included 323 WTE staff who had not previously been included. Excluding these additional staff, the total number of WTE staff employed in Scotland has fallen by 2.3% compared with the comparable figure the previous year.
For further information on the official source please see:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Children/TrendWorkforce
Teachers
The official source of statistics on teachers shows that the total FTE number of teachers based on pre-school, primary, secondary and special schools or visiting specialist was 51,411 which was 656 fewer than in revised 2010 figures. The pupil teacher ratio in schools increased from 13.3 in 2010 to 13.4 in 2011.
For further information on the official source please see:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/TrendTeacherNumbers
Police and Related Services
The Public Sector Employment Statistics show that between Q4 2010 and Q4 2011 the total number of staff employment by the Police boards decreased from 24,500 to 23,900, a decrease of 600 (2.6%). It is important to note this figure is not readily available from the NS publication, however it is still included in the PSE web section.
Latest official statistics on police strength statistics Police Officer Quarterly Strength Statistics Scotland, 31 December 2011
- At 31 December 2011 there were 17,343 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers in Scotland.
- Police officer numbers have increased by 78 full-time equivalent (FTE) officers in the last quarter from 30 September 2011 (0.5%) and increased by 126 FTE officers in the last year from 31 December 2010 (0.7%).
- It is an increase of 1,109 (6.8%) FTE officers from the position as at 31 March 2007.
For further information on the official source please see:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/TrendPolice