Public-sector numbers growing north of Border

SCOTLAND'S public sector employment increased during the first three months of 2011, new figures have revealed.

The number of people on the public sector's pay roll increased by 2,000 to 618,000 between the start of January and the end of March, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Scotland's increase came as the UK-wide figure for people employed by the state dropped by 24,000 to 6.1 million.

However, the ONS figures showed that Scotland's figure for the first three months of 2011, represented an 8,000 fall from 626,000 during the same period for 2010.

The UK's current level of 6.1 million for the number of people working in the public sector, compares to a figure of 6.3 million for the first quarter of 2010.

Meanwhile, there was a significant increase in public sector employees north of the Border between 2008 and 2011, when the figure went from 595,000 to the current level.

The increase in Scotland's public sector employment led to calls for action to boost the private sector from a senior Conaservative MSP, who claimed that Scotland was "over-reliant" on the public sector.

Alex Johnstone said: "No-one wants to see jobs cuts in any sector and that includes the public sector.

"However, it's disappointing to see that the public sector is something that we are increasingly over-reliant on in Scotland.

"The only way that we will bring about a significant economic recovery in Scotland is by increasing the size of the private sector.

"The private sector is best placed to create jobs and that is something the SNP government must get to grips with if it is to make any inroads in job creation in the years ahead.

"The Scottish Government should be doing more to encourage businesses to invest in the economy and jobs," he said.

"The reductions we are going to see in public spending means that there is no way that we can continue to rely on the public sector as the main jobs provider in Scotland."