Question reference: S6W-09566
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 1 July 2022
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Current status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 20 July 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to a civil service headcount reduction.
Answer
The Scottish Government regularly reviews its workforce numbers to ensure affordability, and that the organisation is delivering for the people of Scotland as efficiently and effectively as possible. This ongoing monitoring of our workforce makes sure that as much money as possible is directed onto the delivery of the policy priorities of the Government and improving the lives of the people of Scotland.
We are committed to contributing to achieving the broad aim set out in the Resource Spending Review, to return the total size of the devolved public sector workforce to around pre-COVID-19 levels by 2026-27.
Our absolute priority is achieving this through effective vacancy and recruitment management, working in partnership with the Council of Scottish Government Unions.
Whilst we consider the longer term workforce requirements, and the impact of the Resource Spending Review on our workforce size and cost for the future, we have enhanced recruitment controls in place which focus any recruitment on the most critical delivery priorities, building capability and making the organisation more diverse.