Question reference: S6W-09943
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 25 July 2022
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Current status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 15 August 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its target headcount is for the civil service in Scotland, in light of its reported aim to return to pre-COVID-19 staffing levels.
Answer
The UK Government has not provided details on how their plans to reduce the number of civil servants by 91,000 will affect their staff working in Scotland. There are around 24,800 1 Civil Servants who are part of the reserved Public Sector in Scotland.
For Civil Servants who serve the Scottish Government, the responsibility for determining our workforce size resides with Scottish Ministers and the Permanent Secretary.
The Scottish Government is 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. This will be achieved through effective vacancy and recruitment management, working in partnership with the Council of Scottish Government Unions.
The RSR also sets out how the wider decrease in the public sector workforce will not be achieved via a uniform approach due to varying trends in demand for different services and the recovery of services from COVID-19. Whilst we consider the longer term workforce requirements, and the impact of the Resource Spending Review on the Scottish Government's workforce size and cost for the future, we are already taking action and have enhanced recruitment controls in place, ensuring 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.
[1] Source: Public Sector Employment In Scotland Statistics For 1st Quarter 2022