Last updated: 02/11/2007

About the Civil Service

Civil Service Statistics 2004 annual report

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The number of civil servants

Staff in post (full-time equivalent)
  Non-industrial permanent staff Industrial permanent staff Total Casual staff
1 April 2004 503,550 20,030 523,580 10,820
1 April 2003 490,190 21,110 511,300 9,630
Changes between April 2004 & April 2003 13,360 -1,080 12,280 1,190

The Civil Service comprises of all government departments and executive agencies in Great Britain (listed in Tables A, B, C and D) and includes the Diplomatic Service. The figures in this publication exclude the Northern Ireland Civil Service (unless explicitly stated). On 1 April 2004 there were some 523,580 permanent civil servants (full-time equivalent), of which 503,550 were non-industrial staff and 20,030 industrial staff. There were also 10,820 casual staff. Over the year to 1 April 2004 the number of permanent staff increased by around 12,280 (2.4 per cent). The number of casual staff increased by 1,190 (12.4 per cent).

The number of permanent civil servants, at 1 April 2004, counted on a headcount basis increased by 2.6 per cent, from 540,830 to 554,110. The number of people working full-time rose by 1.8 per cent (8,070) from 452,980 to 461,050, while the number of part-time staff rose by 8.4 per cent (7,220) to 93,070. This continued the long-term increase in part-time employment (see Chart 1). In the ten years to April 2004 the number of part-time staff has almost doubled to 16.4 per cent of the total.

Explanations for changes in permanent staff are accounted for in the main by delivery of increased volumes of work and the provision of new services. These included:

  • Inland Revenue - additional staffing for the New Tax Credit renewals and the modernisation of Stamp Duty;
  • Home Office - staff numbers continue to rise as a result of operational needs in Immigration and Nationality; and
  • HM Prison Service - reflecting the rises in prison population.

Variations in casual staffing levels can be attributed to the local needs of departments.

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Other changes to departments and agencies during the year to 1 April 2004 included the creation of:

  • Communities Scotland;
  • Courts Group;
  • Office of the Accountant in Bankruptcy;
  • Assets Recovery Agency; and
  • Medical Supplies Agency (agency within Ministry of Defence).

Also, changes were made to:

  • Criminal Records Bureau became an Executive Agency in its own right, independent of the UK Passport Agency;
  • Department of Constitutional Affairs incorporated most of the responsibilities of the former Lord Chancellor’s Department as well as responsibilities of the Scotland Office and Wales Office;
  • Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency was formed in the merger between Medicine Controls Agency and Medical Devises Agency;
  • The Rent Service transferred to the Department for Work and Pensions from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister;
  • Office of Telecommunications (OFTEL) ceased to exist from 29 December 2003 and all functions transferred to the new independent regulator for Office of Communications (OFCOM); and
  • Radiocommunications Agency also transferred its functions to OFCOM on 29 December 2003.

Counting Civil Servants

References to the Civil Service relate to the Home Civil Service and Diplomatic Service, but not to the Northern Ireland Civil Service (unless explicitly stated). The Civil Service comprises of all government departments and executive agencies in Great Britain listed in Tables A, B, C and D.

Two methods of presenting and analysing numbers of civil servants are used - headcount and full-time equivalent (FTE). Headcount, in which each civil servant is counted as one whole person regardless of whether he or she works full-time or part-time, is appropriate for summarising patterns of recruitment and departure and for monitoring diversity. However, it is not an appropriate measure when one wishes to relate numbers of staff to the Civil Service pay bill or to calculate the overall staffing level required to carry out Civil Service functions. For these purposes, part-time staff must be treated as such, and a full-time equivalent total is used. The difference between these two measures has become more notable as the proportion of part-time staff in the Civil Service has grown. In the ten years to April 2004 it has doubled to 16.8 per cent of the total. Most of the information on staffing levels in the tables uses full-time equivalent figures, as this best indicates staff resources.

From 1 April 1995, all part-time staff are included in the FTE total according to the proportion of full-time hours they worked. This was a change from the previous practice, which included only those staff working 10 or more hours per week who were counted as the equivalent of half a full-time member of staff. The current method provides a more accurate estimate of overall resource. Full-time equivalent figures for dates prior to 1995 have been re-estimated on the basis of the current practice to enable comparisons over time to be maintained.

The information presented here is derived from data provided by departments and executive agencies to the Cabinet Office.
Information is presented for 1 April in each year unless otherwise specified.
Further information on definitions, data sources and methodology is given in Sources and definitions.

Click on each of the graphs below to open a larger version

Chart 1 - Percentage of permanent non-industrial staff working part-time in the Civil Service; 1994 to 2004 (Headcount)

Chart 1 - Percentage of permanent non-industrial staff working part-time in the Civil Service; 1994 to 2004 (Headcount)

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