Civil Servants

(asked on 18th December 2025) - View Source
Questioner
Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson Portrait
Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson
(Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government (1) what the Civil Service headcount was in (a) 2023–24 and (b) 2024–2025; and; (2) what is the expected headcount for (a) 2025–26, (b) 2026–27, (c) 2027–28, (d) 2028–29, and (e) 2029–2030.

Answered by
Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent Portrait
Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
This question was answered on 2nd January 2026

Please see the table below for 2024, 2025 and latest available figures on Civil Service employment sourced from ONS Public Sector Employment Statistics.

31 March 2024

31 March 2025

30 Sept 2025*

Full-time equivalent

510,720

516,470

520,440

Headcount

543,530

550,150

554,315

*latest available

Each department will take a decision on its future size and shape as per the financial settlements that were agreed with HM Treasury in the Spending Review. These plans will take a whole workforce approach based on the cost of civil servants, Contingent Labour, Consultancy and Managed Services, and will be finalised through the business planning process that is currently underway.

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