1. Key points
Civil Service employment on 31 March 2014 was 439,942, down 8,893 (2.0%) on 31 March 2013. On a full-time equivalent basis, Civil Service employment was 405,784, down by 8,139 (2.0%) over the same period
The number of full-time civil servants fell by 7,353 to 332,692 between March 2013 and March 2014. The number of civil servants working part-time fell by 1,540 to 107,250
Of those employees who declared their ethnicity, 10.1% were from an ethnic minority
Of those who declared their disability status, 8.8% were disabled
More than half (54.9%) of all employees leaving the Civil Service were from the Administrative responsibility level
More than 80% of civil servants were aged 30-59. The number of civil servants aged 60 or above was 35,781, an increase of 1,174 from 31 March 2013. The number of civil servants aged 65 and over increased by 682 from 31 March 2013
Median gross annual earnings (excluding overtime or one-off bonuses) for Civil Service employees was £24,730 as of 31 March 2014, an increase of £350 (1.5%) from 31 March 2013
2. Understanding Civil Service statistics, 2014
This bulletin contains an overview of Civil Service employment statistics on 31 March 2014 in context with statistics from previous years. The earliest available data on a consistent basis is for 31 March 2008. Data prior to this were collected for different reference dates in the year. There were also changes in coverage prior to 2008. Longer time series for total civil service employment are available from the Public Sector Employment release. The latest published statistics are for Q2 2014 when Civil Service employment was 442,030 (408,010 on a full-time equivalent basis).
The release counts all home Civil Service employees. It excludes the Northern Ireland Civil Service, other Crown servants and employees of the wider public sector. There are home Civil Service employees based in Northern Ireland and Overseas.
Statistics are presented on a range of factors including working pattern, gender, ethnicity, disability status, earnings and location of the Civil Service workforce.
Figure 1: Civil Service employment time series; Headcount; 31 March, 2014; UK
Source: Annual Civil Service Employment Survey - Office for National Statistics
Download this chart Figure 1: Civil Service employment time series; Headcount; 31 March, 2014; UK
Image .csv .xls3. At a glance
Civil Service employment has fallen by 2.0% between 31 March 2013 and 31 March 2014. There were just under 440,000 people working in the Civil Service on 31 March 2014. The decrease in Civil Service employment was mainly in full-time staff.
The Administrative responsibility level showed the largest decrease in employment with a fall of 9.4%. The number of employees working at the Senior Civil Service responsibility level increased by 11.8%. There was an increase of 7.9% in the number of Grades 6 and 7 and an increase of 7.3% in the number of Senior and Higher Executive Officers. However, the number of Executive Officers fell by 0.5%.
There were increases in employment in the 50-59, 60-64 and the 65 & over age bands while the number of employees in all other age bands fell.
Most regions had decreases in Civil Service employees, with London, the South West and Northern Ireland showing slight increases. The largest percentage fall was in the North East which decreased by 7.8% between 31 March 2013 and 31 March 2014.
There were 7,701 more leavers from the Civil Service between 31 March 2013 and 31 March 2014 than entrants. The majority of leavers (54.9%) were at the Administrative responsibility level. The majority of entrants (35.7%) were at the Administrative responsibility level.
The Senior Civil Service responsibility level had 62.3% male employees. There were also more men than women in the Grades 6 and 7 and Senior and Higher Executive Officer grades. This was reversed at Executive Officer and Administrative responsibility levels.
Of those who declared their ethnicity, 10.1% of civil servants were from an ethnic minority on 31 March 2014. Of those who declared whether they had a disability, 8.8% of civil servants were disabled.
The median earnings of Civil Service employees increased by £350 (1.5%) over the year to 31 March 2014 to £24,730.
Back to table of contents4. Civil Service workforce
Working pattern
At 31 March 2014 there were 439,942 civil servants, down 8,893 (2.0%) on 31 March 2013. There was a decrease in the number of civil servants working full-time of 7,353 (2.2%) to 332,692 compared with 31 March 2013.There was a decrease of 1,540 (1.4%) in the number of part-time civil servants to 107,250.
On 31 March 2014, almost a quarter of civil servants worked part-time.
Figure 2: Headcount by working pattern; Headcount; 31 March, 2014; UK
Source: Annual Civil Service Employment Survey - Office for National Statistics
Download this chart Figure 2: Headcount by working pattern; Headcount; 31 March, 2014; UK
Image .csv .xlsResponsibility level
At 31 March 2014, around 41% of the Civil Service worked at the Administrative responsibility level, 26% worked at the Executive Officer level, 23% worked at Higher or Senior Executive Officer level and 9% worked at Grade 6 or 7 level. The remaining 1% worked at Senior Civil Service level.
Employment increased in the Senior Civil Service responsibility level by 512 (11.8%), increased by 2,755 (7.9%) at the Grade 6 & 7 responsibility level and increased by 6,786 (7.3%) in the Senior or Higher Executive Officer responsibility level.
Employment decreased by 628 (0.5%) in the Executive Officer responsibility level and decreased by 18,587 (9.4%) in the Administrative responsibility level.
Figure 3: Civil Service employment time series 2008-2014 by responsibility level; 31 March, 2014; UK
Source: Annual Civil Service Employment Survey - Office for National Statistics
Download this chart Figure 3: Civil Service employment time series 2008-2014 by responsibility level; 31 March, 2014; UK
Image .csv .xlsGender
At 31 March 2014 just over half (53%) of all Civil Service employees were female. This percentage is unchanged since 2009.
The proportion of females working at Senior Civil Service level on 31 March 2014 was 37.7%, an increase of 1.5 percentage points from 31 March 2013 and 6.6 percentage points on 31 March 2008. The proportion of Grade 6 and 7s who were female has been steadily increasing from 38.1% on 31 March 2008 to 42.8% on 31 March 2014.
Figure 4: Civil Service employment time series; female employees as a percentage of employees by responsibility level; 31 March, 2014; UK
Source: Annual Civil Service Employment Survey - Office for National Statistics
Download this chart Figure 4: Civil Service employment time series; female employees as a percentage of employees by responsibility level; 31 March, 2014; UK
Image .csv .xlsGender and age
More than four in five civil servants were in the 30-59 age group on 31 March 2014. Since 31 March 2013 there were decreases in employment in age bands 16-19, 20-29, 30-39 and 40-49. There was an increase of 3,247 in age band 50-59 and increases of 492 and 682 in the 60-64 and the 65 & over age bands respectively. There were more females than males in the 20-29, 30-39, 40-49 and 50-59 age bands. There were more males than females in the other age bands.
Figure 5: Civil Service employment; distribution by age and gender; 31 March, 2014; UK
Source: Annual Civil Service Employment Survey - Office for National Statistics
Download this chart Figure 5: Civil Service employment; distribution by age and gender; 31 March, 2014; UK
Image .csv .xlsRegion
There were 44,251 Civil Service employees in Scotland, 31,063 in Wales and 3,971 in Northern Ireland on 31 March 2014.
The English region with the highest number of civil servants on 31 March 2014 was London with 76,840 employees. The lowest was the East Midlands with 20,227.
There were increases in the number of civil servants in London, the South West and Northern Ireland. All other regions showed decreases. The largest percentage increase between 31 March 2013 and 31 March 2014 was in London at 3.5%. The regions with the largest percentage decreases in Civil Service employment between 31 March 2013 and 31 March 2014 were the North East (7.8%) and East Midlands (5.3%).
Figure 6: Civil Service employment; percentage breakdown of civil servants by region; 31 March, 2014; UK
Source: Annual Civil Service Employment Survey - Office for National Statistics
Download this chart Figure 6: Civil Service employment; percentage breakdown of civil servants by region; 31 March, 2014; UK
Image .csv .xlsEntrants and leavers
A total of 36,591 employees left the Civil Service between 31 March 2013 and 31 March 2014. During the same period 28,890 people joined the Civil Service. Employees at Administrative responsibility level accounted for 36% of entrants compared with 55% of leavers. There were 849 fewer Executive Officers joining the Civil Service than the 7,189 that left.
Grade 6 & 7, Higher and Senior Executive Officers and Senior Civil Service had more entrants than leavers.
Figure 7: Civil Service employment; entrants and leavers in year to 31 March, 2014 by responsibility level; UK
Source: Annual Civil Service Employment Survey - Office for National Statistics
Download this chart Figure 7: Civil Service employment; entrants and leavers in year to 31 March, 2014 by responsibility level; UK
Image .csv .xlsEthnicity
Of the Civil Service employees in March 2014 who declared their ethnicity, 10.1% were from an ethnic minority, an increase of 0.5 percentage points on March 2013.
At March 2014, 11.6% of employees at Executive Officer responsibility level and 10.4% at Administrative responsibility level were from an ethnic minority. In comparison, 7.3% of those at the Senior Civil Service level were from an ethnic minority, an increase of 2.6 percentage points from March 2013.
Figure 8: Civil Service employment; ethnic minority employees as a proportion of employees with known ethnic origin by responsibility level; 31 March, 2014; UK
Source: Annual Civil Service Employment Survey - Office for National Statistics
Download this chart Figure 8: Civil Service employment; ethnic minority employees as a proportion of employees with known ethnic origin by responsibility level; 31 March, 2014; UK
Image .csv .xlsDisability status
In March 2014, 8.8% of civil servants who declared their disability status were disabled, an increase of 0.2 percentage points compared with March 2013. The proportion of employees with a declared disability was greater in lower responsibility level. At the Administrative responsibility level, 9.9% of employees who declared their disability status were disabled. This compares with 5.0% of employees at Senior Civil Service level.
Figure 9: Civil Service employment; disabled employees as a percentage of employees with known disability status by responsibility level; 31 March, 2014; UK
Source: Annual Civil Service Employment Survey - Office for National Statistics
Download this chart Figure 9: Civil Service employment; disabled employees as a percentage of employees with known disability status by responsibility level; 31 March, 2014; UK
Image .csv .xlsNational identity
At 31 March 2014, 43% of civil servants with a declared national identity declared themselves as British or Mixed British. Employees alternatively declared themselves as English (40%), Scottish (8%), Welsh (6%) or Irish (1%). The remaining 2% recorded another national identity.
Figure 10: Civil Service employment; national identity as a percentage of employees with a declared national identity; 31 March, 2014; UK
Source: Annual Civil Service Employment Survey - Office for National Statistics
Download this chart Figure 10: Civil Service employment; national identity as a percentage of employees with a declared national identity; 31 March, 2014; UK
Image .csv .xlsSalary
The median gross salary of civil servants on 31 March 2014 was £24,730, an increase of £350 on the median salary on 31 March 2013. Employees overseas had the highest median earnings of £38,500 followed by employees in London (£32,030). The regions with the lowest median earnings were North East (£19,970), Northern Ireland (£21,870), North West (£22,260), Wales (£22,400) and Scotland (£22,540). The increase in median pay should be considered alongside a significant compositional impact on the make-up of the civil service workforce by responsibility level, whereby the number of employees working at the administrative level decreased by over 18,000 while there were increases in employment for the Senior Civil Service, Grades 6 and 7, and Senior Executive and Higher Executive Officers.
The gender pay gap for all employees, calculated as the difference between the median pay for males and females, remained the same at 13.6% from March 2013 to March 2014. This measure depends on the pay of part-time employees being converted to full-time equivalent salaries. The gender pay gap for full-time employees increased from 9.9% to 11.0%, and decreased from 14.9% to 14.2% for part-time employees. For the all employees category the responsibility level with the largest gender pay gap is Senior and Higher Executive Officers at 4.7%. The Administrative responsibility level has the smallest gender pay gap at 1.3%
Figure 11: Civil Service employment; median annual gross salary of full time employees by gender and responsibility level; 31 March, 2014; UK
Source: Annual Civil Service Employment Survey - Office for National Statistics
Download this chart Figure 11: Civil Service employment; median annual gross salary of full time employees by gender and responsibility level; 31 March, 2014; UK
Image .csv .xlsReconciliation of annual and quarterly Civil Service Eemployment statistics
This statistical bulletin presents a range of statistics for the year ending 31 March 2014, based on findings from the Annual Civil Service Employment Survey (ACSES).
ONS also collects and publishes quarterly Civil Service employment statistics as part of the Public Sector Employment (PSE) statistical bulletin. These quarterly statistics should be used when seeking to measure the size of the Civil Service over time. The latest published statistics are for Q2 2014 when Civil Service employment was 442,030 (408,010 on a full-time equivalent basis).
The difference between the ACSES and Q1 PSE figures, which use the same reference date, is less than 0.1% headcount and less than 0.1% for full-time equivalents. This does not impact significantly on the quality of the annual statistics.
Table 11, in the Civil Service Statistics 2014 Statistical Bulletin reference tables' (1.11 Mb Excel sheet) provides a full breakdown of the differences between the two sources by department.
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