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Chamber and committees

Question reference: S5W-05085

  • Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
  • Date lodged: 25 November 2016
  • Current status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 8 December 2016

Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in the Highlands and Islands region have been employed in the public sector in each year since 2007.


Answer

The estimated number of people employed in the public sector in the Highlands and Islands region, from 2007 to 2015, sourced from the Annual Population Survey (Jan-Dec) is shown in the following table:

Number of people employed in the public sector in the Highland and Islands Regions, 2007 to 2015

Year

Number of people employed

2007

70,000

2008

74,500

2009

74,500

2010

70,200

2011

67,300

2012

59,100

2013

58,400

2014

61,700

2015

64,100

Source: Annual Population Survey, ONS (Jan-Dec in each year)

Notes:

1. Information has been sourced from the Annual Population Survey, ONS (Office for National Statistics) obtained from www.nomisweb.co.uk

2. Highlands and Islands geographic area has been defined based on the Highland and Islands NUTS 2010 Level 2 geographic area.

3. Estimates are based on the survey respondents self-report of working in the public sector. This is not entirely consistent with classification based on an ONS National Accounts definition.

The preferred source of public sector employment for Scotland is the Scottish Government’s National Statistics Publication Quarterly Public Sector Employment in Scotland. The latest information is for Q2 2016 located at:

http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Labour-Market/PublicSectorEmployment

This source is based on administrative records collected through the Scottish Government and the Office for National Statistics survey of individual public sector bodies (based on National Accounts Definitions). This publication does not provide estimates for number of people employed in the public sector in the Highlands and Islands region, however information on local government employment by council area is provided in Web-Table 9: Local Government by Local Authority.