In support of the budget and the wider public service reform agenda, the Scottish Government is proactively addressing the need to control workforce size to remain fiscally sustainable. Within the core Scottish Government, the number of contingent workers is now 47 per cent lower than in March 2022.

The use of contingent workers has been in decline in order to support a more managed approach to workforce deployment and to reduce cost. Employing temporary and agency workers provides the flexibility that is required to meet business needs, access specialist and other skills quickly and adapt where a need for a resource is short term. When services might be required for only a short time, it is very often the most cost-effective way of providing them, rather than employing someone full time.