This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
Joint Staffing Watch June 2004
16/11/2004
Figures published today show a year on year increase of
6939 full-time equivalent staff working in Scottish local
authorities, a 2.8 per cent increase between June 2003 and
June 2004.
The new Joint Staffing Watch survey, released jointly by
the Scottish Executive and COSLA, began in 1996, and the
latest report can be viewed at
www.scotland.gov.uk/jointstaffingwatch.
The June 2004 Joint Staffing Watch shows a total of
254,822 full-time equivalent staff compared with the June
2003 figure of 247,883.
The Joint Staffing Watch and other Scottish Executive
Surveys indicate that these reported increases are
primarily due to the recruitment of frontline staff and
those staff who directly support them, such as social work
and education support staff.
The Non-Teaching Education Staff increased by 2,009 FTE
over the year to June 2003, this service group includes
classroom assistants, youth workers and pre-school staff.
The number of Social Work Services staff increased by 1,786
FTE.
Increases were also reported in the number of police
officers and their support staff (up by 836 FTE) and
teachers (up by 741 FTE).
Variations in definitions can lead to apparent
differences between the figures produced in the JSW, and
those published elsewhere. The teacher figures recorded in
the JSW include all pre-school teachers and teachers
employed centrally by the local authority. The social work
services group staff numbers includes professional social
workers, administrative staff, home helps, staff in care
centres and staff in residential accommodation.
All figures above are shown to the nearest full-time
equivalent. Therefore, figures may not sum to totals due to
rounding.
Changes in staff numbers may arise as a result of a
local authority service being provided by staff that are no
longer on the payroll of the authority.
The report gives a detailed description of the results
of the June 2004 survey, with comparison with earlier
periods. It provides information on staffing levels in each
council separately by grade of staff and service area.
For more detailed information regarding Social Worker
Posts and Vacancies see
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00372-00.asp.
A national Social Work and Social Care recruitment and
awareness campaign has been underway since 2002 (for more
information see
http://www.careinscotland.co.uk/).
A joint SE and COSLA fast track scheme for social workers
has also been introduced. (For more information see
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2004/02/5048).
"A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century", a joint
agreement between COSLA, the Scottish Executive and
teachers unions/organisations, contains a commitment to
increase the number of support staff in schools by
approximately the equivalent of 3,500 to reduce the
administrative burden on teachers. This agreement was
operational from 1 April 2001.
"A Partnership for a BetterScotland" commits Scottish Ministers to increase the
number of police officers on operational duty in every
police force and also to improve on the number of overall
level of police numbers. Additional funding has been made
available to enable police forces to achieve these
aims.