Like all good employers, the Civil Service aims to offer a fair and flexible pay and reward package.
Organisation of pay
There are two distinctive features about the way people are paid in the Civil Service.
- Civil Service organisations have responsibility for their own pay, grading and performance management arrangements for staff (except the Senior Civil Service).
- There is an almost universal system of individual performance pay.
This is different to the way the wider public sector generally works. For example, pay for National Health Service workers, local authorities, teachers, police and fire services are subject to national pay bargaining arrangements. In contrast, each Civil Service department and agency negotiates pay for its own staff.
Departments were granted full delegation for terms and conditions in the 1990s. Performance-related pay was also introduced around the same time to establish a closer link between performance and reward.
Senior Civil Service pay
The Senior Civil Service (SCS) is made up of our top managers, specialists and policy advisors, and currently has around 4,000 members.
The pay and grading structure for the SCS is managed by the Cabinet Office. The Cabinet Office is responsible for providing evidence to the Senior Salaries Review Body, which provides independent advice to the Government on the SCS system.