Scottish Government workforce up 2.8% in a year

There has been a 2.8% increase in the Scottish Government’s directly employed workforce over the last year, while the number of contractors and agency workers has dropped.

At the end of September, there were 9,014 full-time equivalent (FTE) directly employed staff, an increase on last year’s figure of 8,771.

Official statistics also show a 17% decrease in the headcount of contingent workers, who are not directly employed, to 1,235.

The staff sickness level increased slightly to 8.6 average working days lost per staff year.

In August, the Government implemented a freeze in public sector recruitment in all but “essential frontline” posts as ministers sought to balance the books following public sector pay awards.

Public finance minister Ivan McKee has been tasked with finding ways of achieving better value for money among Scotland’s £62 billion of public spending.

Mr McKee said: “There has been a 2.3% reduction to the total Scottish Government workforce between March 2022 and September 2024.

“This has been driven by substantially reducing the number of contractors and consultants utilised by the Government, with these staff down by 39% over the same period.

“Further to today’s statistics, we have additional measures in place to manage the size of the workforce – including recruitment controls that aim to support public service reform.

“In the longer term we are working in partnership with trade unions and across the public sector on reform so that services remain fiscally sustainable and improve outcomes for the people and communities that need them most.”