The size of the civil service has risen once again, the latest statistics show.
New quarterly public sector employment data, published this morning by the Office for National Statistics, shows the civil service headcount (full-time equivalent) increased from 513,000 in June to 515,000 in September.
This is another uptick of 2,000 after the headcount rose from 511,000 to 513,000 from March to June. It means the the civil service is now the same size as it was 18 years ago, when Tony Blair was still prime minister. During Blair's premiership, the civil service headcount peaked at 534,000.
The size of the civil service has risen in each year since 2016, in part due to Brexit and then the Covid-19 pandemic. In September 2016, the headcount was 384,000. It has grown by 131,000 since then, a 34% increase over the last eight years. In the last year, it has gone up by 19,000 or 3.8%.
The increase has come in spite of regular promises from Conservative ministers that they would bring down the headcount, from Boris Johnson's plan to axe 91,000 jobs to bring the size down to pre-Brexit levels to the most recent "numbers cap" plans under Jeremy Hunt which sought to go back to the pre-Covid size.
The current chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has scrapped her predecessor's plans and said the government would move towards an approach "that ensures departments consider overall value for money in resourcing decisions”.
Briefings last week suggested that up to 10,000 jobs across the civil service could go as departments strive to deliver 5% efficiencies over the course of the next Spending Review period.
Also last week, the Cabinet Office launched a voluntary-redundancy programme aimed at cutting up to 400 jobs. It has also recently launched job adverts for 555 roles at the new Infected Blood Compensation Authority.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence’s permanent secretary, David Williams, has said his department faces a 10% reduction in headcount over the course of the current parliament.
The latest figures suggest the MoD is already on its way to achieving this. Its headcount dropped by 610 in the last quarter having already fallen by 640 in the previous quarter.
The department which has increased its workforce the most in the last quarter is the Ministry of Justice, which has added another 595 (FTE) staff to its ranks, followed the Department for Work and Pensions, which recorded a rise of 355, and HM Revenue and Customs, which added 315 officials.
Other departments whose size has increased in the last quarter include the Department for Business and Trade (up by 300), the Department of Health and Social Care (up by 285) and the Scottish Government (up by 280).
A government spokesperson said: "Under our Plan for Change, we are making sure every part of government is delivering on working people's priorities. Delivering growth, putting more money in people’s pockets, getting the NHS back on its feet, rebuilding Britain and securing our borders in a decade of national renewal.
“We are committed to making the civil service more efficient and effective, with bold measures to improve skills and harness new technologies."