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NEWS RELEASE

ISSUED JOINTLY BY THE SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE AND THE CONVENTION OF SCOTTISH LOCAL AUTHORITIES

December 2002

JOINT STAFFING WATCH: DECEMBER 2001

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Figures published today show a year on year increase of 3,699 full-time equivalent staff working in Scottish local authorities, a 1.6 per cent increase between December 2000 and December 2001.

The December 2001 Joint Staffing Watch shows a total of 239,962 full-time equivalent staff, compared with the December 2000 figure of 236,263. This change includes an increase of 1,925 in the category of non-teaching education staff, which includes school, pre-school and early school classroom assistants. Local Authorities have attributed many of the larger changes in staff over the year to December 2001 to reclassification between service groups. Examples include an increase of 1,288 full-time equivalent staff in Social Work, 1,169 in Environmental Services and a decrease of 1,788 full-time equivalent staff working in Direct Labour and Direct Service Organisations.

The new Joint Staffing Watch survey, released jointly by the Scottish Executive and COSLA, began in 1996, and can be viewed at www.scotland.gov.uk/jointstaffingwatch

NOTES FOR NEWS EDITORS

1. All figures above are shown to the nearest full-time equivalent. Therefore, figures may not sum to totals due to rounding.

2. Changes in staff numbers may arise as a result of a local authority service being provided by staff who are no longer on the payroll of the authority.

3. The report gives a detailed description of the results of the December 2001 survey, with comparison with earlier periods. It provides information on staffing levels in each council separately by grade of staff and service area. Media representatives can obtain full copies of the report from Jackie Telford on 0131-244-2598.

Contact: Chris Bergin: 0131-244-2967
Internet: www.scotland.gov.uk/jointstaffingwatch

JOINT STAFFING WATCH SURVEY: DECEMBER 2001

SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION AND DECEMBER 2001 SUMMARY

1. This joint Scottish Executive / Convention of Scottish Local Authorities statistical press release provides summary information on the number and full-time equivalent (FTE) number of staff employed in Scottish Local Authorities at 8 December 2001.

2. This report contains information on estimated numbers of staff and full-time equivalent numbers of staff within each major local authority service for December 2001. Full-time equivalent numbers are provided analysed by service, by grade of staff, and for each council by service group. Estimates are also provided for full-time equivalent staff numbers employed by local authorities from March 1999. (Publication of the Joint Staffing Watch was delayed to investigate some data quality issues which have now been resolved. In addition to the December 2001 figures, summary figures for September 8 2001 can be found in table 2,3 and 4 of this report, and the full set of September figures are available on the Scottish Executive website at www.scotland.gov.uk/jointstaffingwatch, or on request from the address at the back of this report.)

3. Caution should be applied when interpreting the information supplied in this report, for the following reasons:

• Differences between councils in staffing levels are influenced by a wide range of factors, including need for the services provided, and the ways in which councils are organised to meet this. Councils have put in place different staffing structures considered most appropriate for their own local circumstances. Differences in staffing levels within individual services will, among other things, reflect these different structures adopted.
• The data represented in this report is not seasonally adjusted. Users of this report and, in particular the quarter on quarter changes shown in tables 2,3 and 4, are encouraged to be prudent when attempting to interpret seasonality in some variables.
• Where authorities provide services through joint arrangements, the staff delivering the service may be grouped with the staff of a lead authority. This is particularly important in interpreting relative numbers of staff in DLO/DSO (Direct Labour Organisation / Direct Service Organisation) services.
• Figures may be revised and authorities may improve their calculation or classification methods (see the technical notes, including paragraph t.4, at the back of this report).

The technical notes at the back of the text section of this report provide further background to the information covered by this report.

)Table 1Overall staffing levels at December 2001 (

4. Table 1 shows, for Scotland as a whole, reported details both for full-time and part-time numbers by gender, and estimated full-time equivalent numbers by salary band for December 2001. The table shows an estimated 239,962 full-time equivalent staff employed by Scottish local authorities in December 2001 (see technical notes t.4-6).

)TABLES 2-4SECTION 2: CHANGES IN STAFF LEVELS BY LOCAL AUTHORITY SERVICE (

5. Table 2 shows trends in local authority staffing, by service, since December 1996. Since 1999, numbers rose briefly from 236,963 in March 2000 to 237,225 in June 2000 before falling until March 2001. The number of FTE staff since March 2001 then continued to increase to 239,962 by December 2001. These changes will include any seasonal effects and are affected by the types of discontinuity that are described in technical note t.4.

6. Table 3 shows the change in total number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff between December 2000 and December 2001 during which time numbers rose by 3,699 to 239,962 (FTE).

7. For specific groups as shown in Table 3, the largest fall in staffing levels during the year to December 2001 was for DLO/DSO staff (down by 1,788 FTE). This included a decrease of 1,344 (FTE) staff between December 2000 and March 2001, the majority of which can be attributed to staff from North Lanarkshire Council being transferred to a public/private partnership. The further reduction of 618 staff between September 2001 and December 2001 is largely attributable to Aberdeenshire and South Lanarkshire councils review of employee recording systems and employment structures, respectively, which has resulted in a transfer and reclassification of staff between services (see technical note t.4). In Housing, the transfer and reclassification of staff also provides a partial explanation for the increase of 464 (FTE) staff between December 2000 and December 2001. Between September 2001 and December 2001 (and from now onwards), South Ayrshire included all Chief Executives Department Staff in Corporate Services rather than Central Support Services. This resulted in a substitution of around 240-250 staff and hence resulted in an increase of 8.5% for Corporate Services in the last quarter. Between March and June 2001, over 1,000 (FTE) staff employed by Glasgow City Council were transferred from DLS/DSO services to Environmental services, accounting for the large increase in the number of staff employed in this area. In the last quarter (September to December 2001), Aberdeenshire council also reassigned a significant number of DLS/DSO to Environmental services which has boosted the figure further. Glasgow City had a large re-classification from Arts, Sports and Leisure to DLO/DSO, which accounted for over 80 per cent of the decrease in this service in Scotland between September and December 2001. Inverclyde also experienced a large transfer from Arts, Sports and Leisure services. In East Ayrshire, the number of FTE staff employed in Arts, Sports and Leisure increased due to a rise in the number of seasonal workers resulting from successful funding applications which has allowed a greater number of projects to be undertaken. Once again, the biggest increase over the year to December 2001 was in the number of non-teaching education staff, which increased by 1,925 (FTE), largely as a result of increases in the number of school, pre-school and early school classroom assistants. In the last quarter, Aberdeenshire produced the greatest increase of non-teaching staff which they attributed to the McCrone report. Stirling and Renfrewshire, the next highest contributors, credited the increase simply to extra supply staff and seasonal variations.

8. Table 4 shows the breakdown of (FTE) staff by salary band (excluding teachers, police and fire service staff) at December 2001, and the change since December 2000. Compared to an overall increase of 2.1 per cent (FTE) for all staff covered by this analysis, there was an increase of 5.3 per cent (FTE) in Band A staff, an increase of 4 per cent (FTE) in Band B staff and an increase of 6 per cent (FTE) in Band C staff. Numbers of staff not covered within these bands fell by 3.2 per cent (FTE) during the same period. These changes are largely due to the transfer and reclassification of staff, as described in paragraph 7 (See technical notes t.5, and notes t.7-t.8 for a fuller description of the salary bands).

)TABLES 5-10SECTION 3: COMPARITIVE STAFFING LEVELS BY COUNCIL (

9. In interpreting these figures it is important to note the general points on interpretation set out in paragraph 3 of the introduction.

)Chart 1 and Tables 5-6Full-time equivalent staff numbers by local authority service (

10. Tables 5 and 6 show respectively, for December 2001 for each authority, full-time equivalent staff, and full-time equivalent staff per 1000 population. Chart 1 shows total full-time equivalent staff per 1,000 population. Differences in staffing levels can occur because of different levels of need for local authority services, and because of different ways in which authorities arrange to provide these.

)Tables 7 - 9Full-time equivalent staff by salary band (

11. Table 7 shows reported numbers of total full-time equivalent staff (excluding teachers, police, and fire service staff) by salary band for each council for December 2001, while Table 8 shows these expressed per 1,000 population.

12. Band B and Band C staff cover the main groups of professional, technical and clerical staff in authorities, engaged in delivering services.

13. Levels of staff in the 'other' category, which covers mainly staff employed under manual workers terms and conditions of service, tend to vary mainly with the scale of authorities' Direct Labour/Direct Service Organisations.

14. Table 9 shows, for each authority, the number and proportion of non-manual staff within each of the non-manual salary bands, showing authorities ranked by the population of the authority. While there is evidence of a relationship between population and proportion of staff in higher salary bands, there are some variations between authorities of similar size.

Staff by salary band by service within each council

15. The set of detailed tables from Table 10(a) to Table 10(k) provide, for each authority, information on the number and proportion of full-time equivalent staff by salary band, within each of the main service categories. They allow comparisons to be made between authorities in the proportions of senior, middle ranking, clerical and manual staff within each service.

16. In assessing the information in the tables, it is particularly important to be cautious in drawing conclusions from percentages in cases where the total numbers of staff are very small. For example the relatively high percentage (20 per cent) of corporate services staff in Orkney in salary band A1 in fact represents only one person from a total of five FTE staff. It is also important to note that differences between authorities within any one service may, in part, reflect differences in the ways in which the authorities are organised to provide these services. For example, in a number of cases, authorities show zero senior manager (i.e. salary band A and above) staff in arts, sport and leisure, and in libraries, museums and galleries. In such cases, these services may be part of a combined service department, and senior manager numbers included within a different service category.

TECHNICAL NOTES

Background to the Joint Staffing Watch

t1 A key purpose of the Joint Staffing Watch Survey is to provide meaningful information on overall local authority staffing levels by service and salary band, and to provide comparative information, particularly on relative levels of senior staff numbers, and of numbers of staff in central and corporate management roles. In particular, the surveys:

- Identify staff numbers within each of 17 separate service categories.

- Provide full-time equivalent staff numbers in each of five salary bands, designed to separately identify senior managers, middle managers and equivalent professionals, clerical staff and staff employed under manual terms and conditions.

- Provide estimates of full-time equivalent staff numbers based on actual hours worked, rather than by applying an FTE conversion factor to part-time.

- Identify staff in authorities' DLO/DSO services as a separate category, rather than grouping DLO/DSO staff with the services they mainly support.

t2 This press release shows full details of staff numbers by salary band for each council within each of the main local authority services. While these detailed tables provide useful comparative information, they must be used with care. Relative percentages based on small total numbers can be misleading. Differences between authorities in staffing levels by grade and service may be due to a number of factors, including different needs for the services provided, and different arrangements within the authority for providing for these needs (for example through different types of joint arrangement). Authorities, themselves, are best placed to address detailed queries on what may lie behind any of the differences shown.

Response to the Joint Staffing Watch

t3 A number of authorities/joint boards experienced difficulties in supplying estimates for the JSW.

t4 As in the previous quarters, local authorities are keen to ensure that the figures supplied for December 2001 are as accurate as possible and are subject to careful scrutiny. This process can lead to some revisions to earlier quarters' data. Such revisions are incorporated in the figures contained in this report. For example, in March 2001 Aberdeenshire introduced a new employee recording system. For the March and June 2001 reports, Aberdeenshire figures from previous quarters were revised to maintain accuracy of trends. It has since become apparent that the new employee recording system was not working correctly until September 2001 and so figures have been re-revised to provide consistency over time. Also, Aberdeen City introduced a new payroll system in early 2001 which has impacted on the accuracy of their reported figures: - it should be noted that for the purpose of this report we are using figures from the last reliable return (December 2000). Furthermore, we do not have figures for the last quarter of Grampian Police so are using September 2001 figures throughout the December report.

t5 In addition, variance can be caused by changes in the classification of staff by service, or by the transfer of functions. This can be seen for DLO/DSO departments, for example, where staff are reclassified to/from other service groups, or where the service is no longer provided by staff who are on the payroll of the authority. Further, some authorities noted temporary changes in staff levels especially for supply teachers and DLO/DSO staff.

t6 Variations in definition can lead to apparent differences between the figures produced in the Joint Staffing Watch (JSW), and those published elsewhere. For example, the teacher figures recorded in the JSW include pre-school teachers, whereas those included in the School Census do not; figures for pre-school teachers are collected and published elsewhere. In addition, the School Census covers the number of teachers working during a certain week, whereas the JSW covers those in paid employment. This difference affects the way in which supply teacher cover is recorded (e.g., if a permanent teacher on sick leave is replaced by a supply teacher, the School Census would include just one teacher, whereas the JSW is concerned with the number of staff employed by local authorities, and would, therefore, include both).

The salary bands

t7 The purpose of separately distinguishing staff numbers by salary band is to provide a clearer description of relative staffing structures. For most of the staff covered, the salary bands used are based on points on the local government employee pay scale. The use of salary bands based on points on this pay scale allows comparisons to be made over time, unaffected by any general increases in pay. The salary bands used in the surveys do not relate directly to salary pay scales under which staff are appointed by local authorities. Where overlap occurs between pay scales and bands used for this survey, staff, as a result of incremental progression, may move into a higher band as recorded by the survey. Care, therefore, requires to be exercised in interpreting movements in band numbers as recorded under this survey.

t8 The salary bands used are defined as follows:-

Band A1: Chief Officers and staff paid at or above spinal column point 66 on the local government pay scale. In June 2001, these staff were earning 49,761 per year or above.

Band A2: Other chief officers and staff paid between spinal points 50 and 65 on the local government pay scale. In June 2001, these staff were earning between 34,242 and 48,582 per year.

Band B: Staff paid between spinal points 31 and 49 on the local government pay scale. In June 2001, these staff were earning between 21,036 and 33,483 per year.

Band C: Staff paid between spinal points 3 and 30 on the local government pay scale. In June 2001, these staff were earning up to 20,397 per year.

Other: This covers staff mainly employed under local authorities' manual terms and conditions of service.

The Scottish Executive / The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities
December 2002

Enquiries on the Joint Staffing Watch Survey should be addressed to:

Catherine Arris
The Scottish Executive
1-G10, Victoria Quay
Edinburgh
EH6 6QQ
Tel. (0131) 244 0439
Email: catherine.arris@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

The latest version of the Joint Staffing Watch can be viewed on the Scottish Executive website at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/jointstaffingwatchwww.scotland.gov.uk/jointstaffingwatch

Tables

Table 1: Estimated number and full-time equivalent number of staff employed by Scottish local authorities: December 2001
Table 2: Recent trends in local authority staffing: Full-time equivalent staff numbers by service (i) (iii)
Table 3: Changes in reported total full-time equivalent staff by local authority service (i)
Table 4: Changes in reported total full-time equivalent staff by salary band (i-iii)
Table 5: Total full-time equivalent staff by service : December 2001 (i)
Table 6: Total full-time equivalent staff per 1,000 population by service : December 2001
Table 7: Full-time equivalent staff (i) by salary band (ii) (iii) in December 2001
Table 8: Full-time equivalent staff (i) per 1,000 population by salary band (ii) (iii): December 2001
Table 9: Number and percentage of non-manual (i) FTE staff by salary band (ii) (iii) (iv) : December 2001
Table 10(a): Corporate Services: December 2001 (i)
Table 10(b): Central Support Services: December 2001 (i)
Table 10(c): Planning and Economic Development: December 2001 (i)
Table 10(d): Other Education Staff: December 2001 (i)
Table 10(e): Social Work: December 2001 (i)
Table 10(f): Housing: December 2001 (i)
Table 10(g): Roads & Transport: December 2001 (i)
Table 10(h): Arts, Sport & Leisure: December 2001 (i)
Table 10(i): Libraries, Museums & Galleries: December 2001 (i)
Table 10(j): Environmental Services: December 2001 (i)
Table 10(k): DLO/DSO: December 2001 (i)
Chart 1 Total full-time equivalent staff per 1,000 population: December 2001

Download Tables as Excel spreadsheet

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