| Description | Joint SE/COSLA quarterly report on number of full time equivalent local authority staff by department and council. |
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| ISBN | |
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| Official Print Publication Date | |
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| Website Publication Date | March 22, 2005 |
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JOINT STAFFING WATCH SURVEY: DECEMBER
2004
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Contents
SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION AND
DECEMBER 2004 SUMMARY
SECTION 2: CHANGES IN STAFF
LEVELS BY LOCAL AUTHORITY SERVICE (TABLES 2-4)
SECTION 3: COMPARATIVE STAFFING
LEVELS BY COUNCIL (TABLES 5-10)
TECHNICAL NOTES
TABLES
CHART
SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION AND
DECEMBER 2004 SUMMARY1. 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 December 2004.
2. This report contains information on estimated numbers
of staff and FTE numbers of staff within each major local
authority service for December 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 December 1996.
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 December 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
December 2004. The table shows an estimated 256,925 FTE
staff employed by Scottish local authorities in December
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 16,009 (6.6 per cent)
since December 1996. Since March 2001 the number of FTE
staff has increased every quarter, reaching 256,925 in
December 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 December 2003 and
December 2004. During this time the numbers increased by
5,541 to 256,925, a rise of 2.2 per cent. Since the
previous quarter, September 2004, the number of FTE staff
rose by 846 (0.3 per cent).
7.
Table 3 shows changes over the
year to December 2004 for specific service groups. Local
authorities provide a limited explanation of large changes
in service groups between surveys. According to this
information the largest increases in staffing levels over
the year to December 2004 were mainly 'front line' staff
and those staff who directly support them. The number of
'Other Education' staff increased by 1,906 FTE (6.0 per
cent). This increase was due to the recruitment of extra
staff such as learning assistants and evening class staff,
additional hours for existing staff and the
reclassification of staff from other service groups. In the
same period, the number of staff employed in the social
work service group increased by 1,347 FTE (3.1 per cent).
This increase was due to a combination of recruitment of
staff such as home helps and the transfer and
reclassification of staff from other service groups. The
number of Police and related staff increased by 1,147 (5.4
per cent) over the year to December 2004. The increase of
767 FTE (10 per cent) in Housing services staff was due to
a combination of recruitment of community care staff and
the reclassification and transfer of over 450 staff from
Corporate Services. (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 December 2004 was for Corporate Services staff.
This decrease was mainly due to the reclassification and
transfer of over 600 staff to Housing Services and Central
Support Services.
9.
Table 4 shows the breakdown of
FTE staff by salary band (excluding teachers, police and
fire service staff) at December 2004, and the change since
December 2003. Compared to an overall increase of 2.3 per
cent FTE for all staff covered by this analysis, there was
an increase of 3.6 per cent in Band A staff, 5.6 per cent
in Band B staff and 4.0 per cent in Band C staff. Numbers
of staff not covered within these bands decreased by 1.7
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.
Full-time equivalent staff numbers by local
authority service (
Tables 5-
6 and
Chart 1)
11.
Tables 5 and
6 show for each authority, FTE
staff, and FTE staff per 1,000 population respectively, for
December 2004.
Chart 1 also shows total FTE
staff per 1,000 population for December 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 December
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 (40.0 per cent)
of Corporate Services staff in Orkney in salary band A1 in
fact represents only two people 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 NOTESBackground to the Joint Staffing Watch
t.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:
- 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.
t.2 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.
Response to the Joint Staffing Watch
t.3 Some authorities/joint boards experienced
difficulties in supplying estimates for the JSW. Eilean
Siar council were unable to provide data for December 2004,
for the purpose of this report we are using the March 2004
data (the most recent data available) for December
2004.
t.4 As in the previous quarters, local authorities are
keen to ensure that the figures supplied for December 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.
t.5 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.
t.6 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).
The salary bands
t.7 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.
t.8 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 December 2004, these staff were earning £53,814
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 December 2004, these staff were
earning between £37,197 and £52,551 per year.
Band B: Staff paid between spinal points
31 and 49 on the local government pay scale. In December
2004, these staff were earning between £23,058 and £36,387
per year.
Band C: Staff paid between spinal points 3
and 30 on the local government pay scale. In December 2004,
these staff were earning up to £22,374 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
March 2005
Public enquiries (non-media) about the information
contained in this report should be addressed to:
Laura Johnston
The Scottish Executive
Meridian Court
5 Cadogan Street
Glasgow
G2 6AT
Tel. (0141) 242 0264
Email:
labour-market.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
TABLESTable 1: Estimated number and
full-time equivalent number of staff employed by Scottish
local authorities: December 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: December 2004
Table 6: Total full-time equivalent
staff per 1,000 population by service: December 2004
Table 7: Full-time equivalent staff
by salary band in December 2004
Table 8: Full-time equivalent staff
per 1,000 population by salary band: December 2004
Table 9: Number and percentage of
non-manual FTE staff by salary band: December 2004
Table 10(a): Corporate Services:
December 2004
Table 10(b): Central Support
Services: December 2004
Table 10(c): Planning and Economic
Development: December 2004
Table 10(d): Other Education Staff:
December 2004
Table 10(e): Social Work: December
2004
Table 10(f): Housing: December
2004
Table 10(g): Roads & Transport:
December 2004
Table 10(h): Arts, Sport &
Leisure: December 2004
Table 10(i): Libraries, Museums
& Galleries: December 2004
Table 10(j): Environmental
Services: December 2004
Table 10(k): DLO/DSO: December
2004
CHARTCHART 1: Total full-time
equivalent staff per 1,000 population: December
2004
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