Two cheers for the ONS on public sector jobs figures

Welcome improvements to official data on public sector jobs, published recently, by the Office for National Statistics, provide a much clearer picture of the level of public sector employment according to John Philpott, Chief Economist at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

However, Philpott argues that the latest figures, which show a growth in the numbers of public administrators as well as frontline workers, still fall short in key respects and will do little to quell controversy surrounding the types of public sector jobs being created.

Philpott comments:

As expected the ONS figures confirm that more than half a million extra jobs have been created in the public sector since Gordon Brown became Chancellor of the Exchequer, which has seen public sector employment rise by 11% to 5.74 million. Moreover, had the ONS been able to extend its data series to the final quarter of 2004 it is likely that the total rise would have been closer to 0.7 million.

Although the estimated share of public sector employment in total employment (20% or 1 in 5 jobs) is less than suggested by some independent analysts, the ONS figures nonetheless show that the public sector accounts for at least 2 in 5 net new jobs created since 1997. Unfortunately, however, even the improved ONS data cast little light on how many of the new jobs were for front line staff (doctors, nurses, teachers, care workers etc.) and how many so-called íback officeí staff.

The latest figures show that since the present Government has been in office, growth in NHS staff (22%) and staff in employed in education (18%) has been well above that for the public sector as a whole. But there has also been a 13% rise in civil service numbers and a 9% rise in staff employed in public administration.

Philpott concludes, While it is likely that ministers will claim that todayís figures show that most new public sector jobs will help improve service delivery, there is still ample scope for opposition politicians to argue that many of the new jobs represent bureaucrats rather than front-line workers.

In making further improvements to the statistics the ONS should endeavour to provide a clearer occupational breakdown of public sector workers. This would aid assessment of the degree to which expansion of public sector employment is helping to improve service quality and offering value for money to taxpayers.