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JOINT STAFFING WATCH SURVEY: JUNE 2004

Chart 1 has been revised in line with the information given in Table 6. No changes have been made to any of the tables.

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Contents

SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION AND JUNE 2004 SUMMARY
SECTION 2: CHANGES IN STAFF LEVELS BY LOCAL AUTHORITY SERVICE
SECTION 3: COMPARATIVE STAFFING LEVELS BY COUNCIL
TECHNICAL NOTES
TABLES

SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION AND JUNE 2004 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 on 8 June 2004.

2. This report contains information on estimated numbers of staff and FTE numbers of staff within each major local authority service for June 2004. FTE numbers are provided analysed by service, by grade of staff, and for each council by service group. Estimates are also provided for FTE staff numbers employed by local authorities for each quarter from March 2003. In addition to the June 2004 figures, summary figures for December 2003 and March 2004 are provided in Tables 2, 3 and 4 of this report. The complete sets of December 2003 and March 2004 figures are available on the Scottish Executive website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/government/jsswd03-00.asp and http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/government/jsswm04-00.asp respectively, 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 paragraph t.4 in the technical notes section at the end of this report).

The technical notes provide further background information.

Overall staffing levels at June 2004 Table 1( )

4. Table 1 shows, for Scotland as a whole, details of full-time and part-time numbers by gender, and estimated FTE numbers by salary band for June 2004. The table shows an estimated 254,822 FTE staff employed by Scottish local authorities in June 2004 ( see technical notes t.4-6).

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

5. Table 2 shows trends in local authority staffing by service since December 1996. The number of FTE staff has increased by 13,906 (5.8 per cent) since December 1996. Since March 2001 the number of FTE staff has increased every quarter, reaching 254,822 in June 2004. 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 FTE staff between June 2003 and June 2004. During this time the numbers increased by 6,939 to 254,822, a rise of 2.8 per cent. Since the previous quarter, March 2004, the number of FTE staff rose by 2003 (0.8 per cent).

7. For specific service groups, as shown in Table 3, the largest increases in staffing levels over the year to June 2004 occurred mainly in 'front line' service groups and in those service groups who directly support them. The number of staff employed in the Education Other service group increased by 2,009 FTE (6.5 per cent). This increase was mainly due to the recruitment of extra staff such as learning support and evening class staff in some local authorities. In the same period, the number of Social Work services staff increased by 1,786 FTE (4.3 per cent). This increase was due to a combination of recruitment of staff such home helps and personal carers and the transfer and reclassification of some staff from other service groups. The 11.0 per cent (520 FTE) increase in the number of Arts, Sports and Leisure staff was due to the reclassification and transfer of DLO/DSO staff at Glasgow City Council. (It is important to note that the way in which teachers, police and staff in other service groups are recorded in the Joint Staffing Watch can differ from other surveys; for more details, see technical note t.6).

8. The largest percentage fall in staffing levels over the year to June 2004 was for Other staff. This decrease is due to the reclassification of staff.

9. Table 4 shows the breakdown of FTE staff by salary band (excluding teachers, police and fire service staff) at June 2004, and the change since June 2003. Compared to an overall increase of 3.2 per cent FTE for all staff covered by this analysis, there was an increase of 4.7 per cent in Band A staff, 6.9 per cent in Band B staff and 5.1 per cent in Band C staff. Numbers of staff not covered within these bands fell by 1.1 per cent during the same period ( see technical notes t.7-t.8 for a detailed description of the salary bands).

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

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

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

11. Tables 5 and 6 show for each authority, FTE staff, and FTE staff per 1,000 population respectively, for June 2004. Chart 1 also shows total FTE staff per 1,000 population for June 2004. 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.

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

12. Table 7 shows reported numbers of total FTE staff (excluding teachers, police, and fire service staff) by salary band for each council for June 2004, while Table 8 shows these expressed per 1,000 population.

13. Band B and Band C staff cover the main groups of professional, technical and clerical staff in authorities, engaged in delivering services. Levels of staff in the 'other' category, which covers mainly staff employed under manual workers terms and conditions of service, tend to vary depending on the scale of authorities' Direct Labour/Direct Service Organisations (DLO/DSO).

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 an indication 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 FTE 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 Tables 10(a) to 10(k), it is particularly important to be cautious in drawing conclusions from percentages when the total number of staff is very small. For example, the relatively high percentage (33.3 per cent) of Corporate Services staff in Orkney in salary band A1 in fact represents only two people from a total of six 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

1. A key purpose of the Joint Staffing Watch (JSW) 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:

2. - Identify staff numbers within each of 17 separate service categories.
   - Provide full-time equivalent (FTE) 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 FTE 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.

3. This press release shows full details of staff numbers by salary band for each council within each of the main local authority services. Note that the figures in the tables may not sum due to rounding. 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.

4. Response to the Joint Staffing Watch

5. Some authorities/joint boards experienced difficulties in supplying estimates for the JSW. Eilean Siar council were unable to provide data for June 2004, for the purpose of this report we are using the March 2004 data for June 2004.
6. As in the previous quarters, local authorities are keen to ensure that the figures supplied for June 2004 are as accurate as possible and are subject to careful scrutiny. This process can lead to some revisions to earlier quarter's data. Such revisions are incorporated in the figures contained in this report. For example, North Ayrshire updated their Personnel System in early 2004. The new system highlighted inaccuracies in the historic data, especially the ratio of full to part time staff which is used to calculate the FTE. Consequently all data from 1998 onwards has been revised.
7. 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 that are on the payroll of the authority. Some authorities noted temporary changes in staff levels especially for supply teachers and DLO/DSO staff.
8. Variations in definition can lead to apparent differences when comparing the figures produced in the JSW with those published elsewhere. For example, the teacher figures recorded in the JSW include all pre-school teachers and teachers who are employed centrally by local authorities (such as peripatetic specialist teachers and teachers of English as a second language), whereas other surveys record these teachers separately. The Teacher 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 is on sick leave, maternity leave or on a secondment and remains on the payroll of the authority and is replaced by a supply teacher, the Teacher 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).

9. The salary bands

10. 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.
11. 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 March 2004, these staff were earning 52,271 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 March 2004, these staff were earning between 36,132 and 51,045 per year.

    Band B: Staff paid between spinal points 31 and 49 on the local government pay scale. In March 2004, these staff were earning between 22,397 and 35,342 per year.

    Band C: Staff paid between spinal points 3 and 30 on the local government pay scale. In March 2004, these staff were earning up to 21,733 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 November 2004

Public enquiries (non-media) about the information contained in this report should be addressed to:

Siân Morgan
The Scottish Executive
1-F, Victoria Quay
Edinburgh
EH6 6QQ
Tel. (0131) 244 0439
Email: DDEnvironment.Statistics@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Media enquiries about the Joint Staffing Watch should be addressed to: David Hamilton Tel. (0131) 244 2056

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

List of Tables

Table 1: Estimated number and full-time equivalent number of staff employed by Scottish local authorities: June 2004
Table 2: Recent trends in local authority staffing: Full-time equivalent staff numbers by service
Table 3: Changes in reported total full-time equivalent staff by local authority service
Table 4: Changes in reported total full-time equivalent staff by salary band
Table 5: Total full-time equivalent staff by service : June 2004
Table 6: Total full-time equivalent staff per 1,000 population by service : June 2004
Table 7: Full-time equivalent staff by salary band in June 2004
Table 8: Full-time equivalent staff per 1,000 population by salary band: June 2004
Table 9: Number and percentage of non-manual FTE staff by salary band: June 2004
Table 10(a): Corporate Services: June 2004
Table 10(b): Central Support Services: June 2004
Table 10(c): Planning and Economic Development: June 2004
Table 10(d): Other Education Staff: June 2004
Table 10(e): Social Work: June 2004
Table 10(f): Housing: June 2004
Table 10(g): Roads & Transport: June 2004
Table 10(h): Arts, Sport & Leisure: June 2004
Table 10(i): Libraries, Museums & Galleries: June 2004
Table 10(j): Environmental Services: June 2004
Table 10(k): DLO/DSO: June 2004

Chart 1 Total full-time equivalent staff per 1,000 population: June 2004

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