Scotland’s “bloated” public sector has continued to grow, despite years of SNP pledges to reduce its size and operating costs.
A further 6,640 people joined the public-sector workforce in the year to June 2026, taking total employment to 603,800.
The increase was driven by higher staffing levels across the devolved civil service, local councils and public corporations. Employment fell, however, in colleges and across the police and fire services.
The figures come despite repeated promises from the SNP Government to reform the public sector and cut spending.
First Minister John Swinney has made public-sector reform a central part of his programme for the next parliamentary year. His plans include reducing the number of regional health boards from 14 to two, merging quangos and examining a possible overhaul of local government. However, he has ruled out compulsory redundancies and has not set out how the changes could affect jobs.
Murdo Fraser, the Scottish Conservatives’ spokesman for public service reform, said: “Scotland’s bloated public sector continues to expand under the SNP. We have heard repeatedly that SNP ministers intend to make the public sector more efficient, but these figures suggest the opposite.
First Minister John Swinney has ruled out compulsory redundancies as Scotland’s public-sector workforce continues to expand
“After two decades of SNP government, Scotland’s public sector is inefficient, wasteful and failing to provide value for taxpayers.
“Any attempt to address the problem is welcome, but these figures raise serious doubts about whether John Swinney will deliver his promised reforms or give in to pressure from trade unions.”
Mr Fraser added that Mr Swinney “cannot continue to keep Scots in the dark” about the reforms. He said the First Minister must publish more detail to counter the growing impression that the plans were being developed without a clear strategy.
Official Scottish Government figures show that the 603,800-strong public-sector workforce now represents 23 per cent of all jobs in Scotland. The total was 6,640 higher than in June 2025, an annual increase of 1.1 per cent.
The devolved public sector accounted for 553,600 of those jobs, up by 6,060, or 1.1 per cent, compared with a year earlier.
NHS employment rose by 2 per cent in the 12 months to June. Local government staffing increased by 0.9 per cent, the devolved civil service grew by 1 per cent and employment in public corporations climbed by 2.7 per cent.
Police and fire service employment fell even as Scotland’s overall public-sector workforce expanded
By contrast, college employment dropped by 2.6 per cent, while staffing across the police and fire services edged down by 0.1 per cent.
Successive SNP governments have pledged to tackle the size of the public sector but employment has increased significantly since the Covid pandemic.
Headcount has increased from 498,700 in June 2019 to 553,600 in June 2026, or 11 per cent.
Former Finance Secretary Kate Forbes first outlined plans for a ‘reset’ of the public sector in 2022, saying it needs to be reformed to become more efficient and that it needs to be reshaped and refocused post-Covid.
In his programme for government earlier this month, Mr Swinney said public sector reforms would be ‘the most radical reshaping of public services since the establishment of the Scottish Parliament’.
He said there would be a three-month period of ‘intense engagement’ about a ‘new structure’ for local government in Scotland, while the current 14 regional health boards will be replaced with just two in order to provide major savings in backroom costs.
Among the quango reforms, Transport Scotland will be brought back into the Scottish Government, while a series of environment bodies will be merged and a single ferries body for the Clyde and Western Isles routes will be explored.
An analysis of 87 public bodies including quangos, executive agencies and public corporations, last month revealed that the total cost of their backroom ‘corporate functions’ was £512million in 2024-25.
Backroom costs for Scotland’s NHS also soared by £58million to £1.1billion – enough to pay for 33,000 new nurses.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The Scottish Government’s focus remains improving the wider public sector workforce through reform, efficiency, and natural attrition, ensuring resources are directed where they have the greatest impact for the people of Scotland.
‘The size of the core Scottish Government’s total workforce has reduced every year since we implemented recruitment controls in 2022.
‘Ministers are committed to protecting front line roles and will continue to work with partners, staff and trade unions to ensure we have the right number of people in the right roles to improve services and deliver value for the public.’
