Public sector employment in Scotland: statistics for third quarter 2018

A snapshot of public sector employment up to September 2018.


Table 4: Total devolved public sector employment by sector; Scotland, Headcount

Total Devolved Public Sector NHS6 Civil Service 8,9,16 Police and Fire Services 2 Further Education Colleges 3,5 Other Public Bodies 3,8,14 Local Government 2,4,6,7,11,12,17 Public Corporations 10,13, 15 Estimated Total Devolved Public Sector excluding major reclassifications
Q3 1999 r 471,800 129,700 14,600 - 15,700 8,600 294,000 9,000 471,800
Q3 2012 r 500,800 155,300 16,500 - 14,200 15,000 279,000 20,000 486,900
Q3 2013 r 499,800 157,400 16,800 29,800 13,500 14,100 247,000 22,000 485,400
Q3 2014 r 502,500 159,700 17,300 28,800 13,500 14,300 247,000 22,000 487,800
Q3 2015 r 503,000 160,900 18,000 28,200 13,800 14,300 245,000 22,000 488,100
Q3 2016 r 501,100 161,800 16,800 28,100 14,000 15,600 242,000 23,000 486,100
Q3 2017 r 503,300 162,700 17,200 27,700 13,500 15,600 243,000 23,000 488,200
Q3 2018 489,700 162,900 17,800 27,600 13,800 16,000 243,000 8,000 489,700
Change on year to:
Q3 2018 -13,520 250 650 -100 300 410 -300 -14,730 1,480
% change on year:
Q3 2018 -2.7% 0.2% 3.8% -0.4% 2.2% 2.6% -0.1% -63.5% 0.3%

r = revision due to addition of Cosla and revision of Community Safety Glasgow in local government. In addition, a number of devolved bodies have been added to the series (see footnotes below for full information).

Notes:

1. Employment figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred, with the exception of local government and public corporation figures; change on year rounded to the nearest ten; percentages are based on unrounded figures. "-" denotes blank entries. Totals may not equal the sum of individual parts due to rounding.

2. Police and Fire Reform: From Q2 2013 Police and Fire Services have been reclassified as central government rather than local government (as their predecessors were). All police staff are employed by the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) whether deployed with the SPA or with the Police Service of Scotland. Although the SPA is an ’Other Public Body’, to avoid duplication and ensure comprehensive numbers are reported for the Police and Fire category all police staff have been included within Police and Fire (and not the Other Public Bodies category) from Q2 2013.

3. In October 2012 the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) merged with 3 colleges to form Scotland's Rural College. This new organisation is classified as a public body as the SAC was. This has resulted in staffing levels moving from the Further Education to Other Public Bodies categories to reflect the merger of these organisations. Although the SPA is an ’Other Public Body’ to avoid duplication and ensure comprehensive numbers are reported for the Police and Fire category, from Q2 2013 all police staff have been included within the Police and Fire category (and not in the Other Public Bodies category).

4. A number of local government staff have transferred to arms length organisations which are part of the private sector under National Accounts definitions. For example, staff transferred from Scottish Borders Council to SB Cares on 1st April 2015 and from Angus Council to Angus Alive on 1st December 2015 thus explaining part of the decrease in local government employment.

5. Information for further education colleges in Scotland is based on collected information from Q4 2010. The method used to create the back series is detailed in the background notes of this publication.

6. From Q4 2011, NHS has responsibility for employing Healthcare staff within prisons. Previously, these people were employed directly by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS). Also, In Q2 2012 1,491 & 1062.1 FTE headcount staff transferred from Highland Council to NHS Highland as a result of the move to integrated health and social care services.

7. Prior to Q2 2006, Scottish Borders Council headcount and FTE figures do not include Casual/Relief employees who were paid in the reference period. This means that these figures underestimate the true headcount and FTE for Scottish Borders Council.

8. In Q4 2015, Historic Scotland (previously part of the devolved civil service) merged with the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (a non-departmental public body in the other public bodies category) to become Historic Environment Scotland in the Other Public Bodies category.

9. From Q2 2017, the Civil Service figures include the Scottish Fiscal Commission.

10. From Q3 2001, the Public Corporations include Registered Social Landlords. This series uses estimates which are predominantly based on annual values provided by the Scottish Housing Regulator. From Q3 2018 Registered Social Landlords is no longer included in this series as a result of being reclassified to the private sector.

11. From Q3 2006, the Local Government figures include Community Safety Glasgow. The series has been revised between Q4 2006 and Q4 2016 to replace estimated data with actual data. Actual figures have been used from Q1 2017 onwards.

12. Prior to Q1 2016, Aberdeen Council headcount and FTE figures may be an underestimate due to methods used to collate this data.

13. From Q2 2017, the Public Corporations includes the Crown Estate Scotland (Interim Management).

14. Other Public Bodies includes Bòrd na Gàidhlig from Q4 2010, Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland from Q2 2011, Children and Young People's Commissioner Scotland from Q2 2004, Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission from Q4 2010, Scottish Commission for Human Rights from Q1 2008, Scottish Association of Citizens Advice Bureau from Q2 2005.

15. Public Corporations includes Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd from Q1 2008.

16. Civil Servants includes Social Security Scotland from Q3 2018.

17. Local Government includes Cosla from Q1 1999. This series has been estimated using annual administrative data from the inter-departmental business register until Q4 2009 and actual data from Q1 2010 onwards.

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