New IfG research - How many civil servants are working in Scotland, and in which departments?

1st September 2014

A new paper, ‘The Civil Service in Territorial Perspective' tells us:

· How many civil servants who are part of the UK Home Civil Service are based in the devolved territories.

· Few departments would be unaffected by Scottish independence. Just five UK Government departments - DCMS, DfE, DCLG, FCO and Cabinet Office - have no staff in Scotland.

· UK departmental staff based in Scotland are drawn disproportionately from the lower grades (AA, AO and EO), with few senior civil servants (SCS), who are mainly Whitehall-based.

· Departments which serve the UK as a whole include the FCO, HMT and MoD. The Scottish Government at present has no policy responsibility, and therefore little capacity in these areas. Following a Yes vote the Scottish Government would need to build up its capacity in these areas either through the transfer of staff from Whitehall to Scotland, through the hiring and/or training of new staff, or through cooperative arrangements with the UK Government.

Robyn Munro, researcher and co-author of this paper, says in her accompanying blog
"At present, almost 44,000 civil servants are working in Scotland: 27,000 for UK Government departments and around 17,000 for the Scottish Government. It is not clear what will happen to these civil servants in the event of Independence."
She concludes:

"The data illustrates some of the complexities and challenges that would be involved in the creation of a Scottish civil service. It would very likely require more than the automatic transfer of all UK government staff currently based in Scotland into a new Scottish administration. Moreover, the impact of Scottish independence would be felt across Whitehall, with the loss of staff numbers and capability a very real possibility."

NB - This paper does not make any recommendations or advocate any particular constitutional model but contains the facts about the Civil Service and how Whitehall relates to the devolved territories.

Later this year, we will publish further research addressing what adaptations to intergovernmental machinery and processes would be needed in the event of a ‘Yes' vote on 18 September, or in anticipation of significant further devolution in the event of a No vote?

See the Paper HERE