Civil service workforce: Recruitment, pay and performance management

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 10 Jan 2024 Closed: 28 May 2024 Parliament page
The Committee has regularly raised issues of staff capacity, skills and workforce planning in the civil service in the past, and warned in December 2020 that the lack of specialist skills in the civil service affects both the efficiency and the effectiveness of government projects. The Government declared in 2022 … Read more
7 Recommendations
13 Conclusions
1 Report
1 Oral session
2 Letters
1 Event
Activity timeline 6 events
28 May
2024
Report published
22 Mar
2024
Report published
26 Feb
2024
Correspondence
26 Feb
2024
Correspondence
5 Feb
2024
Oral evidence
5 Feb
2024
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Wilson Room, Portcullis House
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
5 Feb 2024
View on parliament.uk
Civil service workforce: Recruitment, pay and performance management
Esther Wallington · HM Revenue and Customs Fiona Ryland · Cabinet Office Mark Adam · Ministry of Justice Sir Alex Chisholm · Cabinet Office
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Twenty-Third Report - Civil service workforce: Recruitment, pay … HC 452 22 Mar 2024 20 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
20 results
2 Conclusion Accepted
Twenty-Third Report - Civil servic…
Require departments to report consistent recruitment time data and establish civil service benchmarks
The time taken to recruit staff across the civil service is too slow. It takes an average of 99 days to hire new staff in the civil service, from the job being advertised to completing basic pre-employment checks. Completing security … Read more
Government Response
The government states that consistent and comparable Civil Service recruitment measures, including time to hire and time to fill, have already been implemented across 17 departments. The first data set became available in April 2024 and will be reported quarterly for benchmarking to drive improvements.
HM Treasury
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3 Conclusion Accepted
Twenty-Third Report - Civil servic…
Define common cost-per-hire measure, require regular reporting, and share efficient recruitment examples
Most departments do not know how much it costs to recruit staff, or how they could be more efficient. 14 of the 16 main departments cannot provide full recruitment cost data. Only one department, HM Revenue & Customs, understands its … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees to complete the recommendation within an additional three months, with the Cabinet Office committed to setting benchmarks, identifying best practice through data analysis and external research, and defining recruitment standards. Several discovery pilots are also underway to test new recruitment approaches.
HM Treasury
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4 Conclusion Acknowledged
Twenty-Third Report - Civil servic…
Set out specific actions in pay and reward strategy to address longstanding civil service pay issues
Chronic pay issues within the civil service have lowered morale and risk departments not being able to recruit and retain skilled staff. The Cabinet Office acknowledges that there are longstanding issues within the civil service relating to pay and reward. … Read more
Government Response
The government states a civil service pay and reward strategy is under development, aiming to outline a coherent reward framework by 2030 and a revised pay framework. However, it provides little specific detail on the actions it will take to address declining real-terms pay or pay disparities, noting limitations of the delegated pay model.
HM Treasury
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5 Conclusion Accepted
Twenty-Third Report - Civil servic…
Mandate all departments to collect data on underperforming staff, management, and outcomes
Departments do not collect enough data on staff underperformance to know if it is being managed effectively. Some departments do not routinely collect data on the number of staff who are underperforming in their organisations, and most do not monitor … Read more
Government Response
The government commits to designing a tool by Summer 2024 to centrally collate performance management data from departments for 2023-24 and onwards. This will help understand and manage underperformance, with the Cabinet Office also reviewing data collection for Senior Civil Servants.
HM Treasury
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1 Conclusion Rejected
Twenty-Third Report - Civil servic…
Committee took evidence on civil service recruitment, pay, and performance management
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Cabinet Office, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and the Ministry of Justice about civil service recruitment, pay and performance management.1
Government Response
The government rejects the committee's observation, stating that the Civil Service People Plan 2024-2027 already outlines specific actions, commitments, and timescales for delivery, with formal governance and a new data dashboard in place.
HM Treasury
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6 Conclusion Rejected
Twenty-Third Report - Civil servic…
Civil Service People Plan lacks target performance levels and robust workforce data metrics
However, the commitments and metrics in the Civil Service People Plan do not set out target or expected levels of performance against which the Cabinet Office can measure and evaluate the success of the Plan. For example, recruitment times will … Read more
Government Response
The government rejects the observation, stating the Civil Service People Plan does outline specific actions, commitments, timescales, and metrics, with an evaluation strategy in development and a new People Data Dashboard implemented.
HM Treasury
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7 Conclusion Accepted
Twenty-Third Report - Civil servic…
Recruitment efficiency relies on clearly defined 'time to hire' and 'time to fill' metrics.
The time taken to recruit staff is a key indicator of the efficiency of an organisation’s recruitment process. Recruitment times can be measured in a number of ways, including the time it takes from starting a recruitment campaign to making … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and states the recommendation is implemented, confirming that consistent 'time to hire' and 'time to fill' recruitment measures have been implemented across 17 Whitehall departments, with data available quarterly from April 2024.
HM Treasury
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8 Recommendation Accepted
Twenty-Third Report - Civil servic…
Average civil service 'time to hire' is excessively long, hindering recruitment efficiency.
The Cabinet Office told us that it had agreed a standard definition of time to hire with departments, defined as the time taken from a job advertisement being published to a job offer being made.13 Using a similar definition, the … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and states it has already implemented consistent recruitment measures across 17 Whitehall departments, including 'time to hire' and 'time to fill,' with the first data set available in April 2024 to drive improvements.
HM Treasury
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9 Conclusion Accepted
Twenty-Third Report - Civil servic…
Inconsistent recruitment time data collection across departments impairs effective civil service benchmarking.
The Cabinet Office acknowledged that departments did not collect consistent and comparable data on how long it takes to recruit and vet candidates.16 The Cabinet Office told us it is working to improve the understanding of recruitment times across the … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and states the recommendation is implemented, confirming that consistent 'time to hire' and 'time to fill' metrics have been implemented across 17 Whitehall departments, with data available quarterly from April 2024 for benchmarking.
HM Treasury
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10 Recommendation Accepted
Twenty-Third Report - Civil servic…
Most departments lack comprehensive recruitment cost data, hindering efficiency understanding and comparison.
Most departments—14 out of the 16 main civil service departments in 2022—do not collect full information on their recruitment costs and therefore do not understand how much it costs them to hire staff. The Ministry of Justice told us that, … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and has implemented a set of consistent Civil Service recruitment measures for 17 Whitehall departments, including 'cost per hire,' which will be evaluated for consistent reporting across departments by November 2024.
HM Treasury
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11 Recommendation Accepted
Twenty-Third Report - Civil servic…
Civil Service People Plan omits mandatory recruitment cost metrics, hindering consistent departmental reporting.
The Cabinet Office noted that it was seeking to improve cost data and was benchmarking all costs associated with recruitment, which would enable departments to compare cost elements such as those for advertising or employment checks.21 However, there are no … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and has implemented a set of consistent Civil Service recruitment measures for 17 Whitehall departments, including 'cost per hire,' which will be evaluated for consistent reporting across departments by November 2024.
HM Treasury
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12 Recommendation Accepted
Twenty-Third Report - Civil servic…
Poor recruitment data quality prevents departments from benchmarking their performance effectively.
Most departments do not know how their recruitment performance compares to that of other organisations, either within the civil service or externally. In part this is due to the poor quality of recruitment data, as described above in relation to … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and will set benchmarks and identify best practices by Autumn 2024 through analysis of recruitment metrics data and external research. It will define a set of recruitment standards and has initiated discovery pilots to test new approaches.
HM Treasury
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13 Conclusion Accepted
Twenty-Third Report - Civil servic…
Sharing internal and external recruitment best practices is vital for improving civil service performance.
Improving recruitment performance will also involve learning from the experience of others and from external best practice. We heard several examples of efficiency and good recruitment practice within the civil service, such as HMRC on recruitment costs and centralised recruitment, … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and commits to setting benchmarks, identifying best practices, researching external recruitment practices, and defining recruitment standards by Autumn 2024 (with a three-month extension), supported by ongoing discovery pilots.
HM Treasury
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14 Conclusion Acknowledged
Twenty-Third Report - Civil servic…
Departments possess delegated authority to set non-SCS staff pay, governed by central guidance.
As part of their employer responsibilities, departments are delegated the authority to set pay for their staff below SCS level. Each department sets its own pay structure which defines pay rates for each grade. Annual pay increases are governed by … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges the observation and states that a new Civil Service Reward Strategy is under development to create a more coherent, flexible, and individualised reward framework by 2030, alongside a revised pay framework and improved pension offer clarity.
HM Treasury
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15 Conclusion Deferred
Twenty-Third Report - Civil servic…
Declining real-terms civil service pay for most grades hinders competitiveness and recruitment ability.
Civil service pay for almost all grades has seen a long-term decline. Since 2013, civil service median pay has decreased in real terms for all grades apart from the most junior grade (Administrative Assistant).28 The Cabinet Office recognised that declining … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and states a new Civil Service Reward Strategy is under development with an initial target implementation date of Winter 2024, aiming for a flexible reward framework by 2030, but acknowledges departmental control over pay systems.
HM Treasury
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16 Recommendation Accepted
Twenty-Third Report - Civil servic…
Significant pay disparities between departments for same-grade staff create unhealthy competition.
Other longstanding civil service pay issues include the existence of pay disparities between departments for staff at the same grade level. For example, differences between the higher executive officer (HEO) pay band at the Department for Environment, Food & Rural … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and is developing a new Civil Service Reward Strategy, aiming for a more coherent, flexible, and individualised reward framework by 2030, which includes a revised pay framework to address pay disparities.
HM Treasury
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17 Conclusion Deferred
Twenty-Third Report - Civil servic…
Substantial variation exists in departmental performance-related pay approaches and spending
Departments vary quite substantially in their approaches to performance-related pay, including how much they spend on it. For example, departmental per-head spending on performance-related pay in 2021–22 ranged from £13 to £1,366 per employee, for staff 27 C&AG’s Report, para … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and states a new Civil Service Reward Strategy is under development with an initial target implementation date of Winter 2024, aiming for a coherent reward framework by 2030, and acknowledges departmental control over individual pay systems.
HM Treasury
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18 Conclusion Accepted
Twenty-Third Report - Civil servic…
Absence of a common civil service-wide approach for managing underperforming staff below SCS
Performance management for civil service staff below SCS level is another responsibility delegated to individual departments. This has resulted in differences among departments in how they manage staff performance and support employees’ development. In particular, there is no common civil … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and commits to designing a tool by Summer 2024 to centrally collate performance management data for non-SCS staff from 2023-24 onwards, and will work with departments to address underperformance, with a target implementation date of Autumn 2024.
HM Treasury
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19 Recommendation Accepted
Twenty-Third Report - Civil servic…
Departments fail to monitor outcomes for underperforming staff, contrary to Cabinet Office expectations
Further, most departments do not monitor or report what happens to staff identified as underperforming. Monitoring outcomes for underperforming staff is essential if departments are to understand how effectively their performance management systems are supporting people to move out of … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and will design a tool to collate performance management data for 2023-24 and thereafter for central analysis, aiming for readiness in Summer 2024 with a target implementation date of Autumn 2024. It will also review SCS underperformance recording and consider further guidance.
HM Treasury
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20 Recommendation Accepted
Twenty-Third Report - Civil servic…
Insufficient data on underperformance hinders evaluation of line manager effectiveness and departmental issues
The Cabinet Office’s approach to dealing with staff underperformance, and raising performance levels more generally, is based on improving the confidence and capability of line managers in departments. The Cabinet Office told us that as part of work to implement … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and will design a tool to collate performance management data for 2023-24 and thereafter for central analysis, aiming for readiness in Summer 2024 with a target implementation date of Autumn 2024. It will also review SCS underperformance recording and consider further guidance.
HM Treasury
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Government Response AI assessment · 20 of 7 classified
Accepted 14
Acknowledged 2
Deferred 2
Rejected 2
Total 7 recs + 13 conclusions
Correspondence 2 letters
26 Feb 2024 Joint correspondence from Sir Alex Chisholm, Civil Service Chief Operating Officer and Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary, and Fiona Ryland, Government Chief People Officer, Cabinet Office, re Civil Service Workforce session, dated 16 February 2024
Parliament page
26 Feb 2024 Correspondence from Mark Adam, Chief People Officer, Ministry of Justice, re Civil Service Workforce: Recruitment, Pay and Performance Management, dated 19 February 2024
Parliament page