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Alex Thomas @alexgathomas.bsky.social · 9d

Our reaction to Mel Stride’s big day at the Tory conference

There are savings to be made in the civil service. But an arbitrary headcount target & ignoring new demands on the state won’t deliver them

The hard work of doing that falls to the govt

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/mel-...

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Sam Macrory @sammacrory.bsky.social · 10d

The @instituteforgovernment.org.uk team is back on our party conference travels.

This time to Manchester, where @kemibadenochmp.bsky.social is under pressure to give the Conservatives reason to be optimistic - writes @jackworlidge.bsky.social:

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/kemi...

Can Kemi Badenoch bring optimism to the Conservative Party Conference? | Institute for Government

The Conservative Party Conference brings challenges and opportunities for the leader of the opposition.

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk

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Daniel Howes @howesdaniel.bsky.social · 21d

Special Delivery! @emma-conway.bsky.social and I have been thinking about how Keir Starmer and co (especially Darren Jones) can make a success of 'phase two' - which is all about delivering on the government's priorities. Read more here: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/star...

How Keir Starmer’s government can be built for delivery | Institute for Government

The prime minister can learn from the past to make a success of “phase two” of his government.

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk

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Jack Worlidge @jackworlidge.bsky.social · 27d

The essential analysis of latest changes in civil service staff numbers from @howesdaniel.bsky.social 👇

No surprise that the civil service is *still* growing, though at a far lower rate than in recent years

Daniel Howes @howesdaniel.bsky.social · 27d

1/ If you've been itching to know how the size of the civil service has changed... we at the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk have you covered.

I've crunched the numbers from the latest ONS data release, which you can read about here: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/ci...

Civil service staff numbers | Institute for Government

Who exactly are civil servants and how many are there?

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk

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Teodor Grama @teodorgrama.bsky.social · Sep 4

Many organisations run graduate schemes focused on developing future leaders. That's what the fast stream has always been, at its core. It now needs to overcome the instinct to be all things to all people and rediscover that sense of purpose.

Me for @civilserviceworld.bsky.social:

The Fast Stream needs to rediscover its sense of purpose

A smaller Fast Stream – laser-focused on developing future leaders – would deliver more for the civil service and the country

www.civilserviceworld.com

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Jack Worlidge @jackworlidge.bsky.social · Sep 4

Brilliant new @instituteforgovernment.org.uk research from @teodorgrama.bsky.social on the civil service fast stream - setting out how it's lost its sense of purpose, and what should be done about it 👇

The Guardian @theguardian.com · Sep 4

Civil service graduate talent scheme needs urgent reform, says thinktank

Exclusive: Institute for Government says failings are leading many fast streamers to leave programme early The civil service’s fast stream needs urgent reform as many graduates are leaving before the end of the scheme amid dissatisfaction with pay and progression, according to a report. The Institute for Government (IfG) thinktank found the flagship graduate talent scheme lacks a clear purpose and direction at a time when the government is trying to overhaul the civil service to make it more productive. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

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Teodor Grama @teodorgrama.bsky.social · Sep 4

Great to see our latest @instituteforgovernment.org.uk report on the fast stream covered in The Guardian.

The civil service wants the fast stream to do too much, all at once. A smaller programme that is laser-focused on developing future leaders would deliver more for the civil service.

Civil service graduate talent scheme needs urgent reform, says thinktank

Exclusive: Institute for Government says failings are leading many fast streamers to leave programme early

www.theguardian.com

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Giles Wilkes @gilesyb.bsky.social · Sep 1

I'm not blaming anyone in particular. 100% of the pressures in politics are short term, 95% of the policy dilemmas are long term, and so government is basically a dialogue of the deaf. A wonk in one corner saying "we need difficult tax reform" and a PR guy responding "give me something for the Mail"

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Institute for Government @instituteforgovernment.org.uk · Aug 1

The government is restricting civil service internships to applicants from lower socio-economic backgrounds to get more working-class young people into the civil service.

Using internships will not solve everything, but the experiment is worthwhile www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/soci...

The socio-economic background of civil servants needs to change | Institute for Government

No internship scheme will change the fundamental structural points which the civil service needs to address.

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk

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Hannah Keenan @hannahkeenan.bsky.social · Aug 1

I also think we're at risk of losing sight that we're talking about 200 people here. 0.04% of the civil service. An internship is as good a shout as any to improve diversity (let's see if it works), but gov needs to sort other stuff including pay and wider recruitment too. Some thoughts from IfG 👇

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Heloise Dunlop @hcdunlop.bsky.social · Jul 31

Joining @hannahkeenan.bsky.social and @jackworlidge.bsky.social, looking at grades in this year's CS Stats, the growth of Grades 6/7 continues, rising 5% from 2024. All grades have continued to grow, except AO/AA. But growth is slowing - except for SCS, which grew more in 2024-25 than 2023-24. (1/2)

A graph from the Institute for Government showing the change in civil servants (FTE) at each grade in the civil service. The grades go from Administrative Officer or Administrative Assistant, to Executive Officer, to Senior Executive or Higher Executive Officer, to Grades 6/7 and Senior Civil Servant level. This graph shows the change since 2010. We can see that the Administrative Officer grade has continued to fall significantly, whereas at the other end, there has been a significant rise in Grades 6/7.

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Jack Worlidge @jackworlidge.bsky.social · Jul 31

Worth noting that this data captures pay on 31 March each year - so reflects the end of the 2024/25 pay deal (which was a 5% uplift).

And doesn't yet show the impact of the 2025/26 pay deal announced earlier this year.

Jack Worlidge @jackworlidge.bsky.social · Jul 31

Overall civil service pay is now back above 2010 levels in real terms, for the first time since 2021.

And this really shows how recent pay deals have focused on the lowest paid - AO/AAs have seen a rise of 11.5% in real terms since 2023.

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Jack Worlidge @jackworlidge.bsky.social · Jul 31

Civil service pay is another interesting story in this year's stats, with real terms pay ticking up again as expected...

Hannah Keenan @hannahkeenan.bsky.social · Jul 30

Happy civil service statistics release day to all who celebrate!

Lots more to come from colleagues @jackworlidge.bsky.social, @hcdunlop.bsky.social, and @alexgathomas.bsky.social, but some initial thoughts on turnover, and the possibility that churn is hiding in the stats...

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Teodor Grama @teodorgrama.bsky.social · Jun 11

Departmental Efficiency Plans published alongside the spending review project major efficiency gains in the next few years. For some depts, these plans are heavily weighted towards the end of the SR period. And many depts seem to be betting big on digital to deliver the efficiencies they seek.

An Institute for Government line chart showing planned net efficiency gains as share of 2025/25 day-to-day spending by department, SR25 period, where some departments (e.g. HMRC, DESNZ) are expected to deliver substantial efficiencies by 2028/29 (13.1%, 8.7%).

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Jack Worlidge @jackworlidge.bsky.social · Jun 11

The SR confirms an overall 16% real terms cut to dept administration budgets by 2029/30 (which will drive down staff numbers)....

...but for lots of depts, including the largest and biggest spenders, these cuts are suspiciously (implausibly?) weighted to the final year

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Tim Durrant @timdurrant.bsky.social · Jun 11

When I was working at HMT, during one fiscal event, someone senior came on the building intercom to ask us to stop watching the statement on our computers, to free up some bandwidth so they could upload the documents. Maybe they still haven’t upgraded to fiber?

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Jack Worlidge @jackworlidge.bsky.social · Jun 10

New civil service staff numbers out today - and it looks like we're *back* to expansion again...

Details from @teodorgrama.bsky.social 👇

Teodor Grama @teodorgrama.bsky.social · Jun 10

🚨 Civil service expands… again

New data show CS staff numbers increased by 0.4% in Q1 2025.

The 2,020 additional staff more than wiped out the ~600 FTE reductions recorded in Q4 2024 (only the second quarter since the Brexit referendum when the CS shrank).

(Quick 🧵)

A line chart from the Institute for Government showing total numbers of civil servants (FTE) from Q1 2009 to Q1 2025, where the number of civil servants broadly decreased from 2009 until the EU referendum in 2016, and then broadly increased until the present quarter. Numbers increased particularly rapidly during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Heloise Dunlop @hcdunlop.bsky.social · Jun 3

An overall positive result in the results of the recent Microsoft 365 Copilot experiment - with some risks to carefully manage 🧵

www.gov.uk/government/p...

Microsoft 365 Copilot Experiment: Cross-Government Findings Report (HTML)

www.gov.uk

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Jack Worlidge @jackworlidge.bsky.social · May 30

Though interesting that relocating SCS roles is still proving a challenge

Jack Worlidge @jackworlidge.bsky.social · May 30

Good news on Places for Growth - as predicted, the programme met its target of relocating 22k jobs out of London, ahead of (accelerated) schedule.

(Even if it's not totally clear how that's calculated..)

It's also welcome that the Labour govt continued with the programme, started under prev govt

Civil Service World @civilserviceworld.bsky.social · May 30

New figures show slower progress on target for 50% of senior civil servant roles to be out of London
www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/...

Places for Growth: More than 23,000 civil service jobs have been relocated, new data shows

Cabinet Office figures reveal slower progress on target for 50% of senior civil servant roles to be out of London

www.civilserviceworld.com

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Jack Worlidge @jackworlidge.bsky.social · May 30

Essential context from @teodorgrama.bsky.social on the prevalence of EDI roles in the civil service - and how much (/little) could be saved by scrapping them

Teodor Grama @teodorgrama.bsky.social · May 30

How many EDI roles are there in the civil service?

Cabinet Office data released yesterday (from a review commissioned by the previous govt) tells us - about 350 (FTE) between July 2022 and July 2023.

Or the equivalent of ~0.07% of the whole civil service over that period.

Quick 🧵

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Jack Worlidge @jackworlidge.bsky.social · May 29

Will be interesting to see what the government feels confident enough to commit to in the spending review in a couple of weeks

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Jack Worlidge @jackworlidge.bsky.social · May 29

Also interesting that this follows the Politico story yesterday on govt looking at automating the work of many officials - even if this (and the £ savings attached) are *very* much blue-sky thinking at the moment

www.politico.eu/article/uk-g...

The UK government thinks AI can do two-thirds of the most junior civil servants’ work

Meanwhile, the most senior civil servants perform zero routine (i.e. automatable) work.

www.politico.eu

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Jack Worlidge @jackworlidge.bsky.social · May 29

As we @instituteforgovernment.org.uk have always said, it's more efficient to target £ savings rather than numbers of people

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