Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate the Office for National Statistics has made of the change in headcount of the public sector since June 2024.

Employment in the public sector was estimated at 6.14 million in December 2024. This is an increase of 50,000 (0.8%) since June 2024.

This trend is due in part to the conversion of some local authority schools (classified in local government) becoming academies (classified in central government), with an estimated 17,000 (2.4%) people in employment converting during this period. Without these conversions, there would be an estimated employment increase of 8,000 (0.4%) in local government between June and December 2024.

Within central government, the NHS is the single biggest contributor to the increase, with employment up 24,000 (1.2%) between June and December 2024.