Local government workforce summary data - November 2021

This summary of local government workforce data looks primarily at the directly employed workforce. The data comes from multiple sources, therefore dates will vary. Additional data on teachers, the fire service and the mainly-commissioned social care workforce are also summarised for convenience.

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ONS Quarterly Public Sector Employment Survey (QPSES)
England & Wales
Q2 2021

• HEAD COUNT
  • Q2 2013: 1,829,100
  • Q2 2021: 1,356,800
  • % change since Q2 2013: -25.8%
• FULL TIME EQUIVALENT (FTE)
  • Q2 2013: 1,275,800
  • Q2 2021: 1,024,400
  • % change since Q2 2013: -19.7%
• FEMALE
  • Q2 2013: 1,388,400
  • Q2 2021: 1,014,800
  • % change since Q2 2013: -26.9%
• MALE
  • Q2 2013: 440,800
  • Q2 2021: 342,000
  • % change since Q2 2013: -22.4%
• PART-TIME
  • Q2 2013: 1,003,100
  • Q2 2021: 690,000
  • % change since Q2 2013: -31.2%
• FULL-TIME
  • Q2 2013: 826,100
  • Q2 2021: 666,800
  • % change since Q2 2013: -19.3%
• TEMPORARY/CASUAL
  • Q2 2013: 259,400
  • Q2 2021: 151,500
  • % change since Q2 2013: -41.6%
• PERMANENT
  • Q2 2013: 1,569,700
  • Q2 2021: 1,205,300
  • % change since Q2 2013: -23.2%

LGA Earnings Survey
England & Wales
2019/20

Excludes teachers and firefighters. Percentages are real-terms increases, accounting for inflation.

• Basic pay: £23.3 billion, up 4.0% since 2014/15
• Total gross (including all additional elements, for example overtime, shift premium, bonus and incentives): £24.0 billion, up 4.2% since 2014/15

LGA Earnings Survey
England & Wales
2019/20

Excludes teachers and firefighters.

• FULL-TIME STAFF: £28,947, from £25,520 in 2014/15
• PART-TIME STAFF: £20,164, from £17,280 in 2014/15

LGA Earnings Survey
England & Wales
2019/20

• ASIAN EMPLOYEES: 3.8%
• BLACK EMPLOYEES: 4.3%
• MIXED ETHNICITY EMPLOYEES: 1.4%
• OTHER ETHNICITY EMPLOYEES: 0.6%
• WHITE EMPLOYEES: 89.9%

LGA Earnings Survey
England & Wales
2019/20

Earnings Survey results exclude teachers and firefighters.

• Under 25: 4.7%
• 25-39: 25.0%
• 40-64: 66.6%
• Over 65: 3.5%
• Not known: 0.2%

LGA Earnings Survey
England & Wales
2019/20

• NOT DISABLED: 61.8% (95% excluding Unknown)
• DISABLED: 3.3% (5% excluding Unknown)
• UNKNOWN: 35.0%

Government Equalities Office, Statutory Return
England
2020/21

• MEAN: 5.1%
  • RANGE: -25.3% (WOMEN PAID MORE) TO 21.6% (WOMEN PAID LESS)
  • On average by number of authorities:
    • Women were paid less than men in 81% (233) (see technical note 3)
    • The pay gap was zero in less than 1% (1) (see technical note 3)
    • Women were paid more than men in 19% (55) (see technical note 3)
  • Technical note 1: ACAS explains that mean averages are useful because they place the same value on every number they use, giving a good overall indication of the gender pay gap, but very large or small pay rates or bonuses can ‘dominate’ and distort the answer. For example, mean averages can be useful where most employees in an organisation receive a bonus but could less useful in an organisation where the vast majority of bonus pay is received by a small number of board members.
• MEDIAN: 3.3%
  • RANGE: -45.0% (WOMEN PAID MORE) TO 29.5% (WOMEN PAID LESS)
  • On average by number of authorities:
    • Women were paid less than men in 61% (176) (see technical note 3)
    • The pay gap was zero in 10% (29) (see technical note 3)
    • Women were paid more than men in 29% (84) (see technical note 3)
  • Technical note 2: Median averages are useful to indicate what the ‘typical’ situation is i.e. in the middle of an organisation and are not distorted by very large or small pay rates or bonuses. However, this means that not all gender pay gap issues will be picked up. For example, a median average might show a better indication of the ‘middle of the road’ pay gap in a sports club with a mean average distorted by very highly paid players and board members, but it could also fail to pick up as effectively where the pay gap issues are most pronounced in the lowest paid or highest paid employees.
• Technical note 3: 42 authorities (~13 per cent) had not provided gender pay gap data for 2020/21. These percentages are based on the 289 authorities which had provided data.

LGA Workforce Survey
England
2017/18

• AUTOMATIC ANNUAL INCREMENTS (OR SIMPLE ANNUAL INCREMENTAL PROGRESSION) IS USED BY: 75% OF COUNCILS FOR THE MAJORITY OF THEIR STAFF
   

LGA Workforce Survey
England
2017/18

• RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION DIFFICULTIES WERE EXPERIENCED BY: 78% OF COUNCIL
• IN SINGLE AND UPPER TIER COUNCILS THIS WAS HIGHER, AT: 85% OF COUNCILS

LGA Workforce Survey
England
2017/18

• 2009/10
  • MEDIAN VACANCY RATE: 8.0%
  • MEDIAN LABOUR TURNOVER RATE: 10.0%
• 2015/16
  • MEDIAN VACANCY RATE: 5.4%
  • MEDIAN LABOUR TURNOVER RATE: 13.2%
•  2016/17
  • MEDIAN VACANCY RATE: 8.9%
  • MEDIAN LABOUR TURNOVER RATE: 13.4%
• 2017/18
  • MEDIAN VACANCY RATE: 8.0%
  • MEDIAN LABOUR TURNOVER RATE: 13.4%
• Note: labour turnover is calculated in the workforce survey as the total number of leavers expressed as a percentage of the average headcount of employees over the financial year.

LGA Workforce Survey
England
2017/18

• AVERAGE PERCENTAGE OF DAYS LOST DUE TO SICKNESS:
  • 2015/16: 4.9% (8.8 days per FTE)
  • 2016/17: 4.3% (8.7 days per FTE)
  • 2017/18: 3.6% (8.8 days per FTE)
• IN 2016/17 ‘STRESS, DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, MENTAL HEALTH & FATIGUE’ WAS CITED AS THE CAUSE OF ABSENCE IN 26.8% OF CASES
   

LGA Chief Execs/Chief Officers Survey

Chief officer is any officer whose contract relates to the Joint National Council handbook for chief officers. The officers falling into this group will vary locally although there are some statutory chief officer posts.

England
2018

• ASIAN SENIOR OFFICERS: 2.5%
• BLACK SENIOR OFFICERS: 2.3%
• MIXED ETHNICITY SENIOR OFFICERS: 1.0%
• UNDECLARED ETHNICITY SENIOR OFFICERS: 11.8%
• WHITE SENIOR OFFICERS: 82.4%

LGA Chief Execs/Chief Officers Survey
England
2018

• Mean: 50.6
• Median: 51.6

LGA Chief Execs/Chief Officers Survey
England
2018

• FEMALE: 46.8%
• MALE: 52.7%
• PREFER NOT TO SAY: 0.2%

MHCLG Local Government Finance Release
England and Wales
2019/20

• Like-for-like changes removing the effects of mergers and large transfers.
• Income
  • 2018/19: £15.10bn
  • 2019/20: £16.00bn
  • Increase: £0.9bn (6%)
• Expenditure
  • 2018/19: £12.0bn
  • 2019/20: £12.7bn
  • Increase: £0.7bn (5.6%)

MHCLG Local Government Finance Release
England and Wales
2019/20

Note: Pension Scheme data is produced annually and importantly it covers all scheme membership without separating Local Government employees from the other public sector and other bodies. The 2020 report, however, does state that “74.0% of all the members of the LGPS are covered by local authorities and other connected bodies, even though local authorities and connected bodies represent only 18.6% of employers.”

• Total: 6.1m people
• Current employees: 2.0m
• Former employees: 2.2m
• Pensioners: 1.8m

MHCLG Local Government Finance Release
England and Wales
2019/20

• MARKET VALUE OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT PENSION SCHEME IN ENGLAND AND WALES AT THE END OF MARCH 2020: £272.4bn
• A DECREASE OF £14.8bn OR 5.2%

MHCLG Local Government Finance Release
England and Wales
2019/20

• RETIREMENTS FROM THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT PENSION SCHEME IN ENGLAND AND WALES IN 2019/20: 89,006
• AN INCREASE OF 5,498 OR 6.6%

DfE Schools Workforce Census
England
2020

• HEADCOUNT 508.1 THOUSAND
• FULL TIME EQUIVALENT: 461.1 THOUSAND

DfE Schools Workforce Census
England
2020

• 2020 MEAN SALARY OF ALL TEACHERS IN STATE FUNDED SCHOOLS FTE: £41,799
• 2019 MEAN SALARY OF ALL TEACHERS IN STATE FUNDED SCHOOLS FTE: £40,537
• 2020 MEAN SALARY OF ALL FULL AND PART TIME CLASSROOM TEACHERS FTE: £38,436

DfE Schools Workforce Census
England
2020

• Part-time head count:
  • Male staff: 10.7 thousand
  • Female staff: 112.2 thousand
• Full-time head count:
  • Male staff: 110.7 thousand
  • Female staff: 272.8 thousand

Firefighters’ Workforce Survey
England
2018

The NJC survey collects PT figures across 2 categories: Firstly PT in the normal sense and secondly in respect of retained firefighters (who are PT and not casual employees). Full-Time Equivalent (FTE): The NJC survey gathers info on every Grey Book employee’s earnings, so FTE figures not needed).

• Headcount: 34,902
• Full-time: 23,169
• Retained: 11,360
• Part-time: 373

Firefighters’ Workforce Survey
England
2018

• Female: 7% (2,567)
• Male: 93% (32,322)

Firefighters’ Workforce Survey (see note 1)
England
2020/21

Does not include employer costs eg national insurance and pensions.

• FULL-TIME: £875,326,429
• PLUS RETAINED: £85,263,878
• TOTAL PAY BILL £960,590,307

Note 1: Note: These pay bill estimates are based on the figures from the existing National Joint Council Survey, which have been increased by 2 per cent in reflection of the recent pay award.
 

Firefighters’ Workforce Survey
England
2018

• FULL-TIME STAFF: £36,121
• RETAINED STAFF: £7,667
• WORKFORCE AVERAGE: £26,983

Home Office Mid-Year Update
England
2020

This publication provides full-time equivalent (FTE) figures but not headcounts. The total headcount figure is an estimate based on the 2018 figure from the LGA Police Staff Survey (see below); this figure has been increased by the percentage growth in the FTE figures between 2018 and 2020.

• EMPLOYEES: 91,267
• FTE: 83,687

LGA Police Staff Survey
England
2018

• FULL TIME: 76%
• FEMALE: 61%
• WHITE: 94%
• AVERAGE AGE: 45

LGA Police Staff Survey 
England
2018

Does not include employer costs eg national insurance and pensions.

• TOTAL BASIC PAY BILL: £1,625 M.
• ADDITIONAL PAY: £213 M. (13%)
• TOTAL GROSS PAY BILL: £1,838 M.

Skills for Care Social Care Survey 
England
2020/21

• INDEPENDENT SECTOR JOBS: 16% INCREASE (180,000) SINCE 2012/13
• LOCAL AUTHORITY JOBS: 24% DECREASE (-37,000) SINCE 2012/13

Skills for Care Social Care Survey 
England
2020/21

• REGISTERED NURSES: 34,000; -33% DECREASE (DOWN ALMOST 17,000) SINCE 2012/13

Skills for Care Social Care Survey 
England
2020/21

• FTE JOBS: 1.19 MILLION (ESTIMATED)
• EMPLOYEES: 1.54 MILLION (ESTIMATED)
• JOB COUNT: 1.67 MILLION (ESTIMATED), UP 2.7% (45,000) SINCE 2019/20
• AVG. VACANCY RATE: 8.2% AS PER AUG 2021 (8% Pre-COVID-19; 6.2% APR 2020 – JUL 2021)
• Note: people may carry out more than one job in adult social care

Skills for Care Social Care Survey 
England
2020/21

ESTIMATED JOBS IN CARE HOMES WITH NURSING

• 2009: 235,000
• 2016: 290,000 (increase of 23%, 55,000)
• 2017: 285,000
• 2018: 295,000
• 2019/20: 285,000
• 2020/21: 285,000

Skills for Care Social Care Survey 
England
2020/21

• ORGANISATIONS INVOLVED IN PROVIDING/ORGANISING ADULT SOCIAL CARE: 17,700
• ESTABLISHMENTS IN WHICH THESE SERVICES WERE DELIVERED: 39,000

Skills for Care Social Care Survey 
England
2020/21

• 230,000 RECIPIENTS OF DIRECT PAYMENT (ADULTS / OLDER PEOPLE / CARERS)
• 31% (APPROXIMATELY 70,000) EMPLOY THEIR OWN STAFF

Skills for Care Social Care Survey 
England
2020/21

• 2012 to 2014: INCREASE OF 60,000 JOBS (4%)
• 2015 to 2020/21: INCREASE OF 110,000 JOBS (7%)
• 2012 to 2020/21: INCREASE OF 170,000 JOBS (11%) TO 1.67 MILLION 
• 2020/21 to 2035: FORECASTED INCREASE OF 490,000 JOBS (29%) TO 2.16 MILLION

For more information on this data pack, email workforce@local.gov.uk.