Public sector employment in Scotland: statistics for first quarter 2020

Statistics based on administrative records and surveys of individual public sector bodies carried out by the Scottish Government and the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This is a snapshot of employment as at March 2020.


2. Public Sector Employment by Devolved and Reserved Responsibility; Headcount

(see Tables 2, 3 and 4)

The devolved public sector headcount was 1.7% higher and the reserved public sector was 3.2% lower in March 2020, compared with March 2019. The Civil Service saw the largest percentage point increase (13.1%) in the devolved sector, while Other Public Bodies had a decrease (0.9%). In the reserved public sector, Other Public Sector and Civil Service each had a decrease of 3.9% compared to March 2019, leading to the overall decrease in headcount in the reserved public sector.

The devolved public sector covers those bodies which are the responsibility of the Scottish Government or Scottish Parliament while the reserved public sector in Scotland covers those bodies for which the UK Government has ministerial responsibility.

Figure 2: Make-up of the Scottish Public Sector as at March 2020, Headcount [3]
Figure 2: Make-up of the Scottish Public Sector as at March 2020, Headcount

Source: Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Quarter 1 2020

Changes in the devolved and reserved public sector are explored in more detail in sections 3 and 4 respectively.

Contact

Email: LMStats@gov.scot

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