Andrew Morrison

New figures have revealed the 573,200 people employed by the state is the highest since 2013, and represents 21.8 per cent of the country’s workforce.

Writing in today’s Herald, MCC Accountants said that while it was clear the public sector played a vital role in supporting good-quality jobs, the high proportion could impact on Scotland’s tax receipts.

Director Andrew Morrison pointed out that taxation raised from public sector isn’t “new” money, and that the public purse benefits from more taxation being taken from workers in the private sector.

And with income tax now devolved, he said the challenge for the next Scottish Government would be creating more private sector jobs, in order to generate the cash needed to support council, NHS and other public services.

The official government statistics show that 2,059,400 are employed in the private sector north of the border, 78.2 per cent of the workforce.

However, across the UK the proportion of private sector workers is around 83 per cent, meaning more taxation raised is “new” money for the public purse.

The data in Scotland shows 172,600 are working in the NHS, 254,000 for local authorities, 28,200 in the emergency services and 21,600 in the civil services.

Other public bodies account for 15,600 jobs, colleges support 13,400 roles and 14,000 work for public corporations.

Andrew Morrison, director of MCC Accountants, said: “Public sector jobs are absolutely vital, and of course the country couldn’t operate without them.

“But the more people who work in the public sector, the more of a problem that creates for the government in terms of taxation.

“With income tax now devolved, we’re facing a situation where we need to create more private sector jobs in order to save the public sector.

“The proportions need to move closer to those of the whole UK.”

He added: “The more Scotland’s economy can benefit from new taxation the better – while the receipts from public sector workers are welcome, it is essentially just money going back to where it came from.

“These are difficult arguments for politicians to make, especially ahead of an election, but the debate needs to take place. All of Scotland’s public services are struggling financially.

“Creating an environment where more high-quality private sector jobs are up for grabs could be the solution everyone would benefit from.”